New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he still believes President Donald Trump is a "fascist" and a "despot," despite saying their meeting at the White House on Friday (November 21) was an "opportunity" to work together on lowering the city's cost of living.
Mamdani and Trump appeared to be friendly during Friday's meeting, which saw the Republican president claim that he was "cheering" for the self-proclaimed democratic socialist mayor-elect and tell him "that's OK, you can just say it" when a reporter asked him if he still viewed Trump as a "fascist."
“After President Trump said that, I said, ‘Yes,’” Mamdani said when asked by Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker if he still believed the president is a fascist.
“That’s something I’ve said in the past and I say today," Mamdani added. "And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment, and we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers.”
“Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe," he continued. "I’m not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I’m coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers."