<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Uber left CNN political commentator Van Jones said he was taken aback by the “character switch” during New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present in that speech,” the commentator said while participating in a panel discussion for CNN.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There are a lot of people trying to figure out, ‘Can I get on this train with him or not? Is he going to include me? Is he going to be more of a class warrior even in office?’ I think he missed a chance tonight to open up and bring more people into the tent,” Jones added.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think his tone was sharp. I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling,” he went on. “That’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on TikTok and the great interviews and stuff like that.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I felt like it was a little bit of a character switch here,” Jones noted, wondering why the “warm, open, embracing guy” was gone during his first statements to the public following his big win in NYC.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">CNN&#8217;s Van Jones was not a fan of Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s angry, far-left, rage-filled victory speech:</p>
<p>&#8220;I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present… <a href="https://t.co/aM2AlcgM1U">pic.twitter.com/aM2AlcgM1U</a></p>
<p>— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1985932962261565442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That said, he’s very young and he just pulled off something very, very difficult. I wouldn’t write him off, but I think he missed an opportunity to open himself up tonight and I think that that will probably cost him going forward.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mamdani, 35, who has not been shy about his embrace of socialism, promised in his victory speech to freeze rents for more than one million New Yorkers, provide free busing, and offer universal childcare, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdanis-party-nycs-new-mayor-celebrates-win-by-channeling-americas-marxist-icon">reported</a>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands,” he said during his speech. “The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life. But let tonight be the final time I utter his name, as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mamdani’s speech focused on class warfare and identity politics, plus included negative comments about President Donald Trump, whom he called a “despot.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves,” he said. “After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump, how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”</span></p>


Jones and Mamdani

‘Character Switch:’ CNN’s Van Jones Didn’t Like Mamdani’s Victory Speech

'Character Switch:' CNN's Van Jones Didn't Like Mamdani's Victory Speech

2025 elections

Media

New York City

NYC Mayoral Race

Politics

Van Jones

Zohran Mamdani

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Will &amp; Grace” actress Debra Messing is not a fan of the newly elected mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and her leftist followers are not happy that she’s willing to say so.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 57-year-old Emmy celeb is catching heat for reposting an image on her Instagram Stories from another account called The Persian Jewess, among others. One of the reposted images showed an edited ballot that listed two candidates, one being identified as &#8220;A Democrat. Just a Democrat,&#8221; and the other as &#8220;An actual communist jihadist. A literal Karl Marx-quoting, America-hating jihadist.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The original caption said, “This isn’t just a mayoral race. It’s the battle for Democracy itself. New York City, make the right choice. Vote for Cuomo. Vote for NYC. Vote for Democracy.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another graphic she reposted said, “A vote for Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani is a vote for New-York-Stan.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other posts called out Mamdani’s extremist rhetoric, including his frequent posts about dismantling and defunding the police. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Messing is an unapologetic leftist Democrat, but she is also Jewish and pro-Israel.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The actress posted on Instagram last week that she voted early for Cuomo because “we need someone with experience.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our city is too massive, complex, and consequential to have someone 33 years old who has never held a job, and missed 80% of his votes as Councilman,” she </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQPmQnCk-sK/?hl=en"><span style="font-weight: 400;">shared</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with her social media followers at the time. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Messing said she was counting on Cuomo “to bring our city back to what it should be—safe, the thriving financial center of the world, more low cost housing, more police to make our streets and subways safe for everyone. A social worker cannot help someone who is stabbed in the subway.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The actress also shared posts from conservative outlets to her stories on Tuesday. Despite being anti-Trump, she was also sharing posts featuring the president’s endorsement of Cuomo, including one where Trump wrote, “Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!”</span></p>


Debra Messing

Leftist Actress Posts Meme Describing Mamdani As An ‘Actual Communist Jihadist’

Debra Messing Calls Mamdani 'An Actual Communist Jihadist,' Reposts Donald Trump

<p>Democrat Jay Jones prevailed over incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares in Virginia, a shocking end to a race upended with revelations that Jones had fantasized about murdering his political opponent and his children.</p>
<p>Jones is expected to cruise to victory alongside Democrat <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-take-back-virginia-governors-mansion-as-spanberger-cruises-to-victory?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Democrats+Take+Back+Virginia+Governor%E2%80%99s+Mansion%2C+As+Spanberger+Cruises+To+Victory">Abigail Spanberger</a>, the governor-elect. The Democrats&#8217; victories come after a campaign that was upended in October, when <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/dem-ag-nominee-jay-jones-fantasized-about-shooting-former-virginia-gop-speaker-he-receives-both-bullets/">National Review</a> reported that Jones had texted a Republican state lawmaker in 2021 that if he had two bullets and Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, and the state&#8217;s top Republican in a room, he&#8217;d shoot the Republican twice. He said he wanted to see the children of then-Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert die in their mother&#8217;s arms, because it would help him politically.</p>
<p>He reportedly also said he hoped that police would die for similar reasons.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, the story shifted from Jones to everyday Virginians. Did they agree with him? Did they find the rhetoric permissible? As of 9 p.m., 52% of Virginians said yes.</p>
<p>The Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hashmi, was at 55% of the vote, so only about three percent appeared to be Democrats who split a ticket because they did not support Jones&#8217;s violent hatred.</p>
<p>In one pre-election poll, 3% of Democrats said Jones&#8217; comments actually made them more likely to vote for him, while almost all of the rest said that the comments didn&#8217;t bother them enough to make them vote for the alternative.</p>
<p>It looks like Democrats will have full control of the three statewide offices plus both chambers in the legislature, even though the state is evenly enough split that in 2021, Miyares won with 50.4% of the vote.</p>
<p>On October 7, Miyares told The Daily Wire that the election would determine whether the bipartisan collegiality that historically characterized the state was still alive.</p>
<p>“I think this election now is really a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-the-virginia-way-dead-ag-jason-miyares-breaks-down-whats-really-at-stake-in-jay-jones-race">referendum</a> on the Virginia Way,” he observed. “Is it now dead? Because I could tell you 10 years ago, it would have been unquestioned, not in a million years would anybody even consider — but there seems to be this mindset that power is more important than decency.”</p>
<p>He has said one woman told him she would be voting for the Democrats on the ballot, except for Jones, because she viewed it as a &#8220;test of decency.&#8221; She was, apparently, the exception.</p>
<p>The revelations were a black mark on the idea of early voting. Thanks to a 45-day voting window pushed by Democrats using coronavirus as a pretext, some people had already cast their votes by the time they learned of Jones&#8217; murderous fantasies.</p>
<p>Jones was also convicted of driving 116 miles an hour, and performed his community service at his own PAC — something for which he is now under investigation.</p>
<p>After the texting scandal broke, Jones received especially vocal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-dems-say-candidate-who-fantasized-about-murdering-gop-leader-is-better-than-republicans">backing</a> from the state&#8217;s Black Caucus, which dumped millions of dollars into his race.</p>
<p>Jones felt no remorse for his comments until as recently as last month, when he blamed Donald Trump and Miyares for his text messages, calling it a &#8220;smear.&#8221; He was vaguely more apologetic after Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate for governor, put pressure on him, as he threatened to bring down the whole ticket.</p>
<p>Jones faced a difficult task in demonizing Miyares, whose record was already well-known from his relatively calm term as AG over the last four years. Instead, he sought to turn his own race into one that was a referendum on the presidency, repeatedly pivoting to discuss Donald Trump in his debate against Miyares.</p>
<p>Jones is the son of elites — his father was a Virginia politician and judge — while Miyares&#8217; parents fled communist Cuba.</p>
<p>In Virginia, most criminal prosecutions fall under the auspices of county prosecutors, who are independently elected. But the attorney general&#8217;s office has jurisdiction over key areas, including election cases and corporate wrongdoing.</p>


Jay Jones and Jason Miyares

Jay Jones, Who Fantasized About Murdering Republicans, Will Be Virginia’s Next Attorney General

Virginia

<p>Ben Shapiro urged New Yorkers to consider the consequences as they headed to the polls on Tuesday to choose a new mayor, pressing them to vote for former Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in an effort to prevent self-described Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani from gaining a foothold in the Big Apple.</p>
<p>The Daily Wire&#8217;s editor emeritus opened his eponymous show on Tuesday with a plea to voters to see through Mamdani&#8217;s &#8220;acting&#8221; and understand the threat he posed to America&#8217;s financial hub — and to understand that even though Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa might be a more ideologically sound choice, a vote for him would likely accomplish little if anything.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">On the show today:</p>
<p>It&#8217;s election day in New York City. Will New Yorkers commit political suicide?</p>
<p>Plus, elections in New Jersey and Virginia could decide the future of the Democratic Party,</p>
<p>and Nick Fuentes touts his victory over JD Vance.</p>
<p>Watch here: <a href="https://t.co/JrWOHVzl0e">https://t.co/JrWOHVzl0e</a></p>
<p>— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1985769862254227776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&#8220;Alright, folks, it&#8217;s Election Day in New York City, and the question on everyone&#8217;s mind: will Zohran Mamdani — the pro-jihadist, pro-Marxist candidate for Mayor of New York, be elected mayor of the world&#8217;s financial capital?&#8221; Shapiro began.</p>
<p>&#8220;And one of the questions I sort of have to ask here, is if you&#8217;re a Sliwa voter, who are you and why?&#8221; Shapiro continued. &#8220;Truly, because what is the point of your vote? OK, we get it. You don&#8217;t like Cuomo and you don&#8217;t like Mamdani either. OK, welcome to Planet Earth, where most people don&#8217;t like either Cuomo or Mamdani. But I just, I&#8217;m just wondering, what do you get by voting for Curtis Sliwa at this point?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Do you get one of those hats? Like what precisely is the draw to vote for Curtis Sliwa?&#8221; Shapiro asked. &#8220;Curtis is fine, don&#8217;t get me wrong, and if you&#8217;re in a rational city, maybe he might have an outside shot at being mayor of New York, but he doesn&#8217;t. So what are you doing? If you take your vote and you put it in the Sliwa box, that is a vote effectively for Zoran Mamdani, period. End of story.&#8221;</p>
<p>Shapiro went on to reference a recent Atlas Intel poll that showed Mamdani besting Cuomo — but that in a head-to-head match up, Cuomo would be the likely victor.</p>
<p>&#8220;In that poll, by the way, Sliwa is claiming 15.5% support,&#8221; Shapiro added, noting that the same poll showed Sliwa siphoning the votes that would likely boost Cuomo to victory. &#8220;Guys, no, don&#8217;t do this, don&#8217;t do it. It is not worth whatever points you think you are scoring by not voting for Andrew Cuomo.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Listen, I don&#8217;t like Andrew Cuomo either,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I think Andrew Cuomo was a terrible governor of New York. I don&#8217;t understand for the life of me why the mayoralty of New York came down to the guy who killed all the old people and grabbed ass and ran out of old people, and an outright third-worlder, I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;When I say third world, I mean like as a philosophy,&#8221; he clarified. &#8220;Like Zohran Mamdani is a third-worldist, meaning he believes that all the poor places on earth are the fault of Western civilization. He believes that the only reason that there are failing parts of planet Earth is because of colonialism, and because of Western imperialism and capitalism and all that kind of nonsense. So, those are your two choices, but voting for Curtis Sliwa ain&#8217;t gonna fix that.&#8221;</p>


Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro Rips Into Mamdani As Election Day Unfolds: ‘Will New Yorkers Commit Political Suicide?’

The Ben Shapiro Show

DW_Editorial_NYMayor_2025_V4-1

LIVE UPDATES: Mamdani Flaunts Radicalism In Gloating Victory Speech

Andrew Cuomo

California

Jack Ciattarelli

Redistricting

Winsome Sears

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The New Jersey gubernatorial race is in its closing days, and Republican activist Scott Presler is optimistic that the state could go red.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Republican Jack Ciattarelli is running against Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill in the race to succeed outgoing Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. Presler, who rose to national attention for his efforts to flip Pennsylvania for President Donald Trump in 2024, is deploying a “21-county strategy,” trying to boost turnout in heavily-Republican districts and Democrat strongholds alike.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is an economic election,&#8221; Presler told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The voters of New Jersey are being crushed by property taxes. They’re being crushed by electricity taxes.&#8221;</span></p>
<p>Presler noted that, while much of this cycle&#8217;s focus has been on the Virginia gubernatorial election and New York City mayoral race, New Jersey has come into focus in the waning days of the campaign as Americans realize a Republican may take the governor&#8217;s mansion.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Democrats are finally realizing Jack is poised to become the next governor,&#8221; Presler said. &#8220;I think the thing that is different as well is the national attention New Jersey is getting that it really wasn’t getting months ago when were were banging on every door and shouting to people, New Jersey is 100% in play.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think other people are really starting to pick up on that and realize Jack has a real shot at winning this November, so there’s a lot more national attention than there was.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A recent poll shows Sherrill is up by just one point, and it’s considered a statistical tie, </span><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/new-poll-shows-jack-ciattarelli-mikie-sherrill-statistically-tied-10947620"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Newsweek</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> reported.</span></p>
<p><b>Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to </b><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/"><b>DailyWire.com/Subscribe</b></a><b> to join now.</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2021, Murphy won re-election with just over 51% of the vote. Ciattarelli won 48% of the vote that year.</span></p>
<p>Presler has high hopes for <span style="font-weight: 400;">Ciattarelli. But he&#8217;s already looking at the next race — and thinks New Jersey could be the start of a nationwide trend.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;I am looking at this race really in a nationwide kind of scale,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When we flip the New Jersey governorship from blue to red, it’s going to give other blue states permission to elect Republican governors.&#8221;</span></p>
<p>Presler mentioned Oregon, where former <span style="font-weight: 400;">Republican gubernatorial nominee Christine Drazan just announced a new bid for the state&#8217;s top job. But that&#8217;s not all.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m looking at Oregon. I’m looking at Washington State. I’m looking at New Mexico,&#8221; Presler said. &#8220;Even New England.&#8221;</span></p>


US-POLITICS-CONVENTION-ELECTION

‘New Jersey Is 100% In Play’: Scott Presler On The Cycle’s Most Interesting Election

mikie sherrill

New Jersey