ZOHRAN MAMDANI Talks Meeting Trump, Mayoral Election, Arsenal

Speaker 1 Cold mornings, holiday plans. This is just when I want my wardrobe to be simple.
Stuff that looks sharp, feels good, and things I'll actually wear. For me, that's Quince.

Speaker 1 And the bonus, Quince pieces make a great gift, too. This season's lineup is simple but smart and easy with Quince.

Speaker 1 $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters that feel like everyday luxury, and wool coats that are equal parts stylish and durable.

Speaker 1 Their denim nails, the fit, and everyday comfort, all at a fraction of what you'd expect to pay.

Speaker 1 By partnering directly with ethical factories and top artisans, Quince cuts out the middleman to deliver premium quality at half the cost, ooh, half the cost of other high-end brands.

Speaker 1 So you can give luxury quality pieces without the luxury price tag. Guys, with Christmas around the corner, my girlfriend has added two extra names to my Christmas list this year.

Speaker 1 Her father and brother.

Speaker 2 And what am I getting them?

Speaker 1 I'm getting them $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters. But, guys, I've never seen a Mongolian cashmere sweater for under $350.

Speaker 1 So take advantage of what is clearly

Speaker 1 some sort of glitch on their website with $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters. Guys, give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince.

Speaker 1 Go to quince.com/slash T-A-F-S for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.

Speaker 1 that's quince.com slash t a fs free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash t a f s

Speaker 2 what it like what is it like like you're like you go to the you go to the white house right you take a selfie on a plane yeah

Speaker 2 no caption that is like drake vibes a little bit hit the emoji though you hit the emoji

Speaker 2 You know what I mean? What do you think about the plane? What do you think it like? What's the game plan there? Honestly, I knocked out on the plane. I mean, you looked like...

Speaker 2 You looked a little bit like

Speaker 2 that was the joke on the internet. You look a little bit like you took the edible, you hit nothing.

Speaker 2 You can say it. You look a little bit like you hit the edible before the flight.
You know, it was 30 minutes. I'm sorry, Mr.
May. I don't understand.

Speaker 2 I don't know.

Speaker 2 Hello and welcome to a very special episode of the Adam Friedland Show. I'm Adam Friedland.
Because this is such a special episode, we've decided to release this episode to the public two days early.

Speaker 2 Additionally, we've got to give the boy some time off for Thanksgiving. I'm such a good guy.
Wow. Also, we don't want to leave our members and patrons hanging.

Speaker 2 So starting next week, we will be commencing a weekly members-only stream, State of the Tafts. Is that what the name is? Sure.
Okay. It's called State of the Tafts,

Speaker 2 where we will be taking, but it's the Adam Freelance Show. So State of the

Speaker 2 Tafts.

Speaker 2 Sounds good. State of Tafts.

Speaker 2 State of the Tafts. State of the.

Speaker 2 State of the Adam Freelance Show. Okay.
Well, let's stick with State of the Tafts. Okay.
So starting next week, we will be commencing with a weekly members-only stream.

Speaker 2 It's called State of the Tafts, where we'll be taking questions from members and patrons. So, please, if you don't already, support the Adam Friedland Show on YouTube or Patreon.

Speaker 2 There's links in the description. You guys are the ones that keep the show going.
We are proudly member-supported, kind of like a

Speaker 2 socialism vibes. My guest this week is Mayor-elect of New York City and former striker of the Bronx Science Wolverines, Zoron Mamdani.

Speaker 2 On Friday, my staff huddled around the office computer and we all watched the Mayor-elect's historic press conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Speaker 2 My 22-year-old employee, Zach, tapped me on the shoulder. His voice was quivering.
A tear was rolling down his cheek. I remember it clearly.
He said, Dad, I mean Adam. The man on the screen.

Speaker 2 standing next to the President of the United States will be here in 36 hours time.

Speaker 2 But how do we get him off the computer and into the real world? I smiled and looked at him and said, if you can figure out how to do that, Zach, I'll give you a million fucking dollars.

Speaker 2 So please enjoy my conversation with Zoro Mamdani, everyone.

Speaker 2 I'd like to take a break from speaking with the mayor to tell you about Roe.

Speaker 2 It's for your erections. Thank you to Roe for sponsoring this episode.
I'm not a real Rosebarks user, but I'm excited to tell you what it's all about.

Speaker 2 Listen, folks, as you know, sex is hot, it's spontaneous, and it can come out of nowhere.

Speaker 2 So the confidence that you need to feel good when you get hard fast in those situations is possible with Rosebarks. The mayor is watching this.

Speaker 2 Rosebarks are a two-in-one prescription treatment for guys who want to get harder and have more controlled erections.

Speaker 2 They hit the bloodstream fast because they dissolve under the tongue, and getting hard fast means that there's less waiting to perform. After Roseparks dissolved, they work in 15 minutes on average.

Speaker 2 Plus, Rose Sparks dual-action formula stays active in the system for up to 36 hours.

Speaker 2 No, you don't stay hard the whole time, but when you get aroused, you're able to get it going and maintain an erection.

Speaker 2 With Rose Sparks, guys can get harder, have more control in bed, and a boost to last longer so everyone gets more pleasure.

Speaker 2 Roe connects guys with a medical provider 100% online, and if approved, treatment ships directly to your door.

Speaker 2 If prescribed new sexual health patients get $15 off their first order of Sparks on a recurring plan.

Speaker 2 Connect with a provider at ro.co slash T-A-F-S to find out if prescription Roseparks are right for you. That's RO.co slash T-A-F-S for $15 off your first order.
Sparks is a compounded drug product.

Speaker 2 Compounded drugs are permitted to be prescribed under federal law, but are not FDA approved and do not undergo FDA safety, effectiveness, or manufacturing review.

Speaker 2 For full safety information, go to ro.co slash safety info.

Speaker 2 Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor Elect, New York City, Zorovam Donny, everyone. What up?

Speaker 2 Elect. Elect.

Speaker 2 Congratulations. How you doing, man? How you doing? How you doing?

Speaker 2 Good. It's funny.
Like, when I met you,

Speaker 2 we just talked about sports. I wasted your time like four days before an election just talking about.

Speaker 2 I know. We talked about all of our collective pain.
Yeah. The game's on right now.
The North London Derby's on right now. 3-0, baby.
You said

Speaker 2 you've been too busy

Speaker 2 running for mayor to watch the games this year.

Speaker 2 Now you're making me too busy to watch.

Speaker 2 But we'll get an update if it's four. Oh, shit.

Speaker 2 This is unprofessional.

Speaker 2 I thought I'm.

Speaker 2 I gotta.

Speaker 2 Someone text me.

Speaker 2 Oh, shit.

Speaker 2 You need to see this.

Speaker 2 Oh, no. Guys.

Speaker 2 Aye, so around. How you doing, Ian right here? What? I just want to say a massive, massive congratulations on what you've achieved.

Speaker 2 The real work starts now, but God willing, you can achieve everything that you have

Speaker 2 to achieve.

Speaker 2 And I need some of that. How did you do this? Winning

Speaker 2 the energy that you've got, my friend, and get behind the boys. It's a long way to go.
I'm going to cry. You just have to stay calm.
Back Mikel and all the boys. Up the gunners, baby.

Speaker 2 Take it easy and God bless, my friend.

Speaker 2 I just got to

Speaker 2 do this.

Speaker 2 My boy.

Speaker 2 I'm just going to watch it again. Yeah, just watch it again.
I just want to say a massive, massive congratulations. I love this man.

Speaker 2 He's the best guy of all time. Have you seen the video where he is reducing his teacher?

Speaker 2 Mr. Pigeon.
I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead.
We have. Okay, here's the problem, guys.
I don't want to expose you before. You get kicked.

Speaker 2 Yeah, just.

Speaker 2 It's crazy. I mean,

Speaker 2 you're right, right, right. Okay.

Speaker 2 Oh, man. How did I do that? I really, really bothered.

Speaker 2 I thought.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. Mr.
President, you didn't know where you were going. No, no, it's not a...

Speaker 2 No. How did you do that?

Speaker 2 I knew that it was going to be.

Speaker 2 I love him. I love him so much.

Speaker 2 He's the best guy of all time. You know his background story.
He was like working at a factory, and then he tried again. He's like, I'm going to try one more time.
And then

Speaker 2 he went to Crystal Pals.

Speaker 2 These are like the stories I would read when I was 17 and on the boot team of a travel team in New York City. What did you play? What position did you play?

Speaker 2 Wrong science? I played up top. Up top.
Yeah. You were nine?

Speaker 2 I think I was 23. Okay, but you were a striker.
Yes. There had no relation to the number off the back of my jersey.

Speaker 2 We have like a lot of our brain is occupied by the most useless information related to this to this soccer. Every day I wake up, I think about Sebastian Squalachi.
Oh my God. Pascal Sigan.

Speaker 2 I think about Marwan Charmeck.

Speaker 2 Yeah, when I caught, I caught you, like, I'd be a little bit of a politician because I said that Ospina was giving me nightmares, and you're like, Jackson Heights is in the balance. I need to

Speaker 2 kill my Columbia clothes for a moment. No one cares.
No one cares. We're embarrassing ourselves.
Okay.

Speaker 2 You grew up in the Upper West Side. Yeah.
New York City kid. Yep.
Yes, sir. Yeah.
Where did you grow up? Well, we actually, we both lived a little bit as kids in Cape Town. Yeah.

Speaker 2 You lived in Cape Town? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Where did you live? Observatory? I lived in Oranjesecht. That's where my mom was.
From 96 to 99.

Speaker 2 My mother grew up in Orangeacht. Yeah.
Both my parents are from Cape Town.

Speaker 2 What? I was born in LA. My dad was on a list of some sort.

Speaker 2 You got to give me more than that. My dad and mom both went to university in London.
Okay. We're Jews from Cape Town.

Speaker 2 And then they met in South Africa. They met at home in Cape Town.
They kept getting set up on blind dates. And she was like, this fucking guy again.
And then somehow he wore it down. And then

Speaker 2 they got married. And then he got a letter that he was being sent to Angola to the Civil War.
And so they left. They just

Speaker 2 packed up one year. 82.
So I was born in L.A. Okay.
And you've been told. My dad was on an enemies list because of the apartheid regime.

Speaker 2 So I lived there when I was a kid. And then I was there back.
My granny's from Sea Point. None of the grannies left.
And

Speaker 2 actually, it's interesting. She's still there? Granny's still there, 94.
She just got a hip. You want to send her a video? Let's do it.
Hi, Granny.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Congrats on your hip.
Congrats on the hip. Congrats on the hip.
Esther, congrats on the hip. I promise

Speaker 2 I'm trying my best in life. No,

Speaker 2 she's very proud of me. I told her I have the mayor coming on.
And

Speaker 2 no, no. So, yeah, Mada actually was, he was like, when I was a kid, I used to write my

Speaker 2 essays, like, who's your hero? on

Speaker 2 my diva. Because it connected me to my parents.
Because it was like, you know, they said that. Yeah, yeah.
So, but he went to our synagogue after a part after he got out of jail, he was elected.

Speaker 2 and he was like you got to tell your kids to come back because we need everyone to build a country and like my parents whole generation of Jews so why are you not following Madiba right now because I had to talk to you

Speaker 2 and I got this studio and it's fucking it's a lot it's a lot you know I last time I went back was in 2010 2010 for the World Cup Steve to the Jabbalallah was it what was it obnoxious

Speaker 2 yeah could you not hear anything you hate it if you're not the one doing it and I was one of the people doing it you got one yeah I brought them back back. I was fucking loud.

Speaker 2 I bought one back to college. Yeah, yeah.
I went to a D3 basketball game. My roommate was on the basketball.
I was in the game. I was a Vuvizela.
And I had the Vuvizela.

Speaker 2 I think I was at Bates College. And I pulled it out and I blew it, and the ref stopped the game.
And he's like,

Speaker 2 You need to fucking stop. Yeah, yeah.
And you're like, come on, didn't you see the World Cup? Didn't you see the ball that went in all different directions? But I was at the Ghana-Uruguay game. No.

Speaker 2 That's where I cried in public. No.
Yeah. Luis Suarez.

Speaker 2 Asimo and Guillan.

Speaker 2 dude

Speaker 2 guys this was the closest the mayor caring about caring about soccer is the mayor caring about Arsenal is like Wakanda for me.

Speaker 2 It's like I feel like it's like representation Do you remember that tweet? You're one of I remember your tweet. No, no, no, not the was it Ruth Kanda forever

Speaker 2 Yeah like when I met you One thing that was like remarkable is like um we were talking we were talking about soccer and hip-hop. Yeah.
And I was like, we are losers.

Speaker 2 But I was like, we're the same.

Speaker 2 Representation matters. We're the same generation, right? It dawned on me that my entire life,

Speaker 2 this kind of feels like the first time that someone from my generation has ascended to leadership. I guess Mayor Pete did, but he was more of a suck-up to the parents.
You're more one of us, I think.

Speaker 2 I don't know. He couldn't laugh at that or he could laugh at that.
No, you're ever mad at me. She gets mad at me.
She yells at me, Olivia. Can you tell her to take an example?

Speaker 2 Anyway, that's a, give it up for Olivia, the head of communication. Why is everyone so nervous?

Speaker 2 That's Monica. That's Amelia.
Or Amelia, sorry. That's Amelia.
Oh, sorry.

Speaker 2 Okay, I cut that. Okay.
How you, yeah,

Speaker 2 you're mayoring people older than you. Are you getting unced?

Speaker 2 Okay, can you explain to me, what does unc stand for? Uncle.

Speaker 2 Someone told me it stood for uncle.

Speaker 2 No. It's uncle.
It's uncle.

Speaker 2 You have old heads, uncs, and OGs. Just wanted to make sure.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 You were unknown like a year ago. Yeah, I mean, even my friends didn't know what an assembly member was.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 I still don't know, and I don't want to know. In fact.
I mean, you're perhaps one of the most famous people in America right now. I mean, it's weird.
It's weird.

Speaker 2 How have you adjusted to that?

Speaker 2 I think I try and spend as much time as possible with people I knew before

Speaker 2 I was. Yeah.
The day ones. The mayor elect.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 And I think the nice thing about being an assembly member is I was still working in politics, but I I was also walking around my neighborhood like anybody else. Yeah.
I mean, I went to...

Speaker 2 You went to the White House. Okay.
I went to the White House. I was going to tell you I went to Dwayne Reed, but both of them are true.

Speaker 2 Okay, let's start on the Dwayne Reed. Okay, start on the Dwayne Reed.
We went in there, pick up something from the apartment.

Speaker 2 This guy in front of us has a pack of condoms and breathments,

Speaker 2 and he turns around and he goes, Mr. Mayor.
And he looks at my wife and he goes, Mrs. Mayor.

Speaker 2 And that's our experience now at Dwayne Reed. Yeah.
That's life in Astoria. Oh, the condoms had...

Speaker 2 I don't know. He was like, like mr.
Mayor I'm about to lose my virginity. Yeah, he left it at that I would like you to know I'm about to become a man he just gave the titles

Speaker 2 What is it what does this last year feel like and what has the adjustment been like like I mean it's it's

Speaker 2 To be honest with you, I haven't spent all that much time reflecting on it you should because it's so go go go you should just work a lot. Yeah, have you checked the reddit

Speaker 2 voice? Is there a Zoron mom dotted Reddit? I don't know. Is there? Probably.
Don't check it though. No.
Yeah, just don't read the comments.

Speaker 2 No, I always forget to put the extra slash R when I'm typing in the URL. So I don't even.

Speaker 2 What is it like?

Speaker 2 You go to the White House, right? You take a selfie on a plane. Yeah.

Speaker 2 No caption. That is like Drake vibes a little bit.
Hit the emoji, though. You hit the emoji button.

Speaker 2 You know what I'm saying? What do you think about the plane? What do you think?

Speaker 2 What's the game plan there? Honestly, I knocked out on the plane. You slept.
Slept. It's a 30-minute flight.
I mean, you looked like... You looked a little bit like.

Speaker 2 That was the joke on the internet. I don't know if I I can make these jokes.
You look a little bit like you took the edible.

Speaker 2 Nothing.

Speaker 2 You can say it. You look a little bit like you hit the edible before the flight.
You know, it was 30 minutes. I'm sorry, Mr.
May.

Speaker 2 I don't know. I apologize.
You walk in. Like, did he give you a tour of the White House? He gave me a tour of...
What was the weirdest thing he showed you? The Oval Office in the Cabinet Room.

Speaker 2 What's the thing? He had to have showed me something. One thing weird.
I mean, he showed me the...

Speaker 2 Showed me the portraits of all the presidents presidents in the cabinet room yeah he he saved the FDR for you the FDR was beautiful it was really nice and and we talked about FDR for a little bit

Speaker 2 and honestly you don't have you don't have the LaGuardia record if you don't have FDR yeah but we talked about that

Speaker 2 I walked in

Speaker 2 first first you get there and it's just you alone and there are two people like guiding you through to get to to the Oval Office. They're like, you know, they want you to see this room and that room.

Speaker 2 And then I sit down

Speaker 2 waiting

Speaker 2 for the time of the meeting. And in front of me are like all these different coffee table books.
And one of them is UFC at the White House. Oh yeah, he's bringing it there, right?

Speaker 2 I had no idea, but I was

Speaker 2 flipping through that. Yeah.
And so you saw guys fighting each other? No, it was just a... What was it? It was a realization.
Oh, of the. Of what the octagon is and what it's going to look like.

Speaker 2 No.

Speaker 2 Can I ask you a question? Like, how did you not laugh?

Speaker 2 When the 135. How did you keep the face during the press conference? Oh, during the press.

Speaker 2 Because

Speaker 2 we were all dying. And I'm like, my boy Zorod was like, just straight face.

Speaker 2 He said, just tell him.

Speaker 2 How did you keep that face?

Speaker 2 Honestly, I was just thinking about New York City. Yeah.
I mean, it's like...

Speaker 2 The whole time I was trying to think about the difference between if you have a White House that is working working towards an affordability agenda or one that's making it harder to live in the city.

Speaker 2 Yeah. That's kind of what kept.

Speaker 2 Do you feel like as if

Speaker 2 you know the president sees your popularity? You know, he loves the ratings. Ton of reporters.
He sees it. He's I think handsome.
I think he thought handsome. Did you have eyes up here, Mr.
President?

Speaker 2 You were elected because you were trusted on your policies for affordability. Do you think he's maybe a little bit trying to like swagger Jack a little bit?

Speaker 2 You know, I actually think there's there are a lot of places of disagreement with the president.

Speaker 2 I think one of the things that was remarkable to me is I told him that, you know, our campaign started on October 23rd of last year, but the moment when a lot of people, or not a lot of people, some people started paying attention was after he won the presidency.

Speaker 2 We did the video on Fordham Road, Hillside Avenue. We talked to Trump voters and we asked them why.
they voted for him. And it just went back to cost of living and it went back to cheaper groceries.

Speaker 2 And that was a lot of our campaign. And he liked that.
It was one in 10, right? That's like like he liked one in 10. He liked it.

Speaker 2 I mean, did you see the guy who has the MAGA from Amdani hat? Yeah, yeah. Then he did the.
How'd that feel? The MAGA from Amdani. He was badass.
It was wild. I remember we were going to step.

Speaker 2 I was going to step on. Sounds like such a puzzle list.
Everything is we. I was going to step on the stage at Forest Hills where we were doing our rally.
Did you think it was a prank?

Speaker 2 Well, I had a member of the NYPD pull me aside, and they're like, I just want you to know that there is a man in your line of sight with a red MAGA hat.

Speaker 2 We checked and he's actually sincerely here for the rally. Oh, that's.

Speaker 2 So you really had to bring it. You had to do a Trump-style rally for him.

Speaker 2 You had to do YMC.

Speaker 2 This guy's accustomed to some wild rallies. This guy's accustomed to a stadium full of.
Yeah, it was just me and El Visgar Church. Yeah, I got it.
And somebody from MTV Lebanon.

Speaker 2 Did you expect him to like you as much as he did?

Speaker 2 I was trying to prepare for a lot of different situations. I know.
It's like when you're on that plane, take that selfie. I mean, that could have gone any, that could have gone in any direction.

Speaker 2 I mean, like, did that feel the best case scenario? Or, like, were you like,

Speaker 2 it honestly felt like the most productive meeting we could have had. Yeah.
I mean a meeting where we talked about EULERP, we talked about, you know,

Speaker 2 groceries, con ed, rent, childcare, that feels like the best meeting you could have had. Yeah.
Were Eric or Donald Jr. there? No.
No, it was.

Speaker 2 Did you worry that like to see that was maybe difficult for them?

Speaker 2 No, I wasn't thinking about that. Maybe he's like, the hang has just been so bad.
This cool guy came and he's like, now I have to go back to these guys.

Speaker 2 Did he say,

Speaker 2 can you sleep over?

Speaker 2 Did he come up to New York and see you?

Speaker 2 He didn't ask me that. Oh, man.
I mean, it was one of the most surreal things we've ever seen as Americans. Robin Van Percy against Charlton, baby.

Speaker 2 What's the score? 3-1. What? Fuck! Who scored?

Speaker 2 For Charlison from halfway line. Oh, did he do the pigeon? From the halfway line? Nah, dude.
He was being weird about it. He scored from the halfway line? Yeah, he chipped Ryan.
What?

Speaker 2 It was off his his line? Yeah, it wasn't Riah's fault. It was honestly just a great play for Matt.
Why would you say that? Because they're not a threat. They're not a threat.

Speaker 2 That's the famous last words. What's this time? Okay.
73rd. What time is it right now?

Speaker 2 74th minute right now.

Speaker 2 What time is it? 1.02.

Speaker 2 Did you watch the 4-4 Arsenal Newcastle? Yeah, we talked about it. It was the worst day of my life.

Speaker 2 This is an interesting moment for us because we have an opportunity to have a snapshot of you after an historic election election and prior to the assumption of your of one of the most powerful positions in America.

Speaker 2 Co-host of the show. Co-host of the Adam-Freelo show.
What made you run for mayor? Like what made you decide to run for mayor?

Speaker 2 I think

Speaker 2 one of the things was that

Speaker 2 I was very frustrated with the fact that

Speaker 2 Eric Adams, who was at that point running for re-election,

Speaker 2 was making it more expensive to live in New York City in clear ways that he had direct control over, and then pretending like he was just a bystander.

Speaker 2 He would write a letter in support of Con Ed when they want to increase gas and electric by more than 60 bucks a month. He would raise the rent more than 12 percent, he would increase the water bill.

Speaker 2 He would but like the conditions for you, I mean for me, you're like, This is the time I'm gonna run for. I think the

Speaker 2 thinking was that

Speaker 2 I wanted to make a case specific about cost of living.

Speaker 2 And there were a lot of people who looked at

Speaker 2 kind of the swing of our politics and thought that the only way to beat someone heading towards the right is to head towards the right yourself. And you felt like you were going to win?

Speaker 2 I felt like I had a 3% chance of winning. And that's probably giving me an extra two points.

Speaker 2 Was there someone that you spoke to who said, don't run? Oh, tons. Tons.
Did your girl say that? No. My wife.
Your wife.

Speaker 2 She's still your girl.

Speaker 2 She's always gonna be your girl.

Speaker 2 She said, run?

Speaker 2 She

Speaker 2 was down for it. That was the final decision.
You're allowed. You're allowed, yeah.

Speaker 2 Is she mad at you for working so much? No, she's a little bit. She is a little bit.
She what? Is she a little bit? She gets, no, but it's annoying for her a little bit.

Speaker 2 She lets you work so much.

Speaker 2 Mine. This is all permission given.
Mine doesn't. No, but I think, like, to be honest with you, it's

Speaker 2 to meet someone in one stage of your life

Speaker 2 and then

Speaker 2 to have your life and their life transform

Speaker 2 What it also just like the level of love and support it takes from someone.

Speaker 2 I mean, I would not be able to do this without her. She gets mad at you for working too hard.
That's not what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 I feel like, I feel like, I looked into your eyes, I see a fellow, a fellow brother. What was the movie you knew you'd win? For the primary? No, no,

Speaker 2 the primary and the generalized book. I got two questions.
You know,

Speaker 2 there isn't like a single moment. Yeah.

Speaker 2 There is, the funny thing to me is that in both of the elections, from 6 to 9 p.m., I thought I was going to lose of election day. Because there was like bad

Speaker 2 exit polling? And the general, there was a rumor at around 6 o'clock that there were two major news networks that had bad exit polls and that showed Cuomo with an advantage. He started that rumor?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I mean, definitely worked. Ruined my night.

Speaker 2 Ruined my night. Primary, I remember

Speaker 2 Kevin Elkins. How did you fall for that?

Speaker 2 I'm such a mark of this stuff. Kevin Elkins, who was working on Cuomo's campaign, put out a tweet like, I guess the most important thing is that everybody had fun.

Speaker 2 And I was like, oh man, this means they know they're going to win. And he's saying that to us.
He's in a room full of four guys

Speaker 2 at the election night party.

Speaker 2 You're in a stadium. You're in a stadium in front of a Dory fan.
I think you should have looked around. Yeah, but never, I mean, this is like, you know, being an Arsenal fan.

Speaker 2 It's the hope that kills you. It's never done until...

Speaker 2 That meant so much to me. I know exactly what you're talking about.
You know what I mean? You cannot count it. It's a reminder that you're going to die one day.
It's like

Speaker 2 you think that once any time you think something good's going to happen,

Speaker 2 it just goes away. You have to hold it.
I think it's made us better people, though. Yeah, I mean, we've had to deal with disappointment for decades.

Speaker 2 I think if we were like Real Madrid fans, we'd be like cheating on our taxes. We'd be like, I'm going to live forever.
We're going to have affairs. Multiple fairs.
Trade or retractable rumors.

Speaker 2 I think for us,

Speaker 2 we're like, uh it's gonna all go away so i have to like make make uh take advantage of the time i have it means nothing to these people okay wait what's the what's the 4-1 as a hat trick let's fucking go sorry for chris saying 4-1

Speaker 2 hey guys we want to thank lucy spot for sponsoring this episode 100 pure nicotine always tobacco free lucy breakers are nicotine pouches with an extra surprise each pouch holds a capsule that can be broken open to release flavor and extra hydration.

Speaker 2 Set yourself up with a subscription to have Lucy delivered straight to your door. What's my favorite flavor? The minty one.
What's my favorite strength? The strongest one.

Speaker 2 And when do I throw it in all motherfucking day long? Guys, let's level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to lucy.co/slash tafs and use promo code TAFS to get 20% off your first order.

Speaker 2 Lucy has a 30-day refund policy if you change your mind. Again, that's lucy.co and use code TAFS to get 20% off.
And here comes the fine print.

Speaker 2 Lucy products are only for adults of legal age and every order is age verified. Warning, this product contains nicotine.
Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Speaker 2 Last Christmas I gave you a shitty gift, but this Christmas I'm giving you aura frames. And that's how I'm redeeming myself, mind you.

Speaker 2 The reason it's my gift is because my grandparents are getting old and they like to see personal photos. I upload pictures from the good old days for my grandparents,

Speaker 2 pictures of when times were simpler, when they were in the caves, you know, when they were like going out and hunting for food and the lady were back at the back of the tent going blah blah blah, you know.

Speaker 2 They would drive a car with their feet. And they would drive the car with the feet and they would slide down a dinosaur on the back, like a kind of a 50-50 grind.

Speaker 2 So guys, unlimited photos of video. Just download the Aura Frame app and connect to Wi-Fi.
Pre-load photos before they ship. Keep adding from anywhere, anytime.
Personalize your gift.

Speaker 2 Add a message before it arrives. Share photos and videos effortlessly straight from your phone all year long.
Gift box included. Every frame comes with a package in premium gift box with no price tag.

Speaker 2 Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. Don't wait.
Win the holidays with Aura Frames.

Speaker 2 So for a limited time, visit auraframes.com and get $45 off Aura's best-selling Carver Matte Frames, named number one by Wirecutter, by using promo code TAFS at checkout.

Speaker 2 That's A-U-R-Aframes.com, promo code T-A-F-S. This exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is the best of the year.
So order now before it ends. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout.

Speaker 2 Terms and conditions apply.

Speaker 2 Guys, I want to tell you about how stressful the holiday season can be. Between travel, gifts, hosting, entertaining, you name it.

Speaker 2 It's easy for you to lose sight of money and financial responsibility this time of year.

Speaker 2 If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch, rated Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025.

Speaker 2 Monarch is the all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or phone.

Speaker 2 And right now, just for our our listeners, Monarch is offering 50% off your first year. I've wasted money recently on some ridiculous things.

Speaker 2 I can't go into it because I would be embarrassing myself and the mayor-elect Zoron Mamdani. So I'll just say, I got myself in a little bit of hot water with the old lady, my girlfriend.

Speaker 2 So I'm using Monarch Money as my essential year-end financial reset tool.

Speaker 2 I can link everything, investments, 401ks, property values, to get my true net worth and stay on on top of my year-end priorities, like maxing out my contributions to my 401k or Roth IRA before the deadline.

Speaker 2 Easily keeping track of my finances and my year-end financials to-do list with Monarch means that I can relax and enjoy the holidays for once. Monarch is built for people with busy lives.

Speaker 2 If you've put off organizing your finances, Monarch is here for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting.
It links to all my accounts in minutes.

Speaker 2 I get clear data visuals, smart categorizations of my spending, and real control over my money. You don't need to track every dollar, but ignoring your finances entirely can cost you.

Speaker 2 Monarch isn't just another finance app. It's a tool that real professionals and experts actually love.
It was named the best budgeting app of the 2025 by the Wall Street Journal, in fact.

Speaker 2 They have a passionate Reddit community. with over 34,000 users that shape how the product is developed.
Money can break up couples. Monarch brings them together.

Speaker 2 Monarch gives your partner full access to your shared dashboard, including linked accounts, budgets, goals, and spending activity, all in one place and at no extra cost.

Speaker 2 So don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code TAFS at monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year.
And that's 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code TAFS.

Speaker 1 Cold mornings, holiday plays. This is just when I want my wardrobe to be simple.
Stuff that looks sharp, feels good, and things I'll actually wear. For me, that's Quince.

Speaker 1 And the bonus, Quince pieces make a great gift, too.

Speaker 1 This season's lineup is simple but smart and easy with Quince. $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters that feel like everyday luxury, and wool coats that are equal parts stylish and durable.

Speaker 1 Their denim nails, the fit, and everyday comfort, all at a fraction of what you'd expect to pay.

Speaker 1 By partnering directly with ethical factories and top artisans, Quince cuts out the middleman to deliver premium quality at half the cost, ooh, half the cost of other high-end brands.

Speaker 1 So you can give luxury quality pieces without the luxury price tag.

Speaker 1 Guys, with Christmas around the corner, my girlfriend has added two extra names to my Christmas list this year, her father and brother.

Speaker 2 And what am I getting them?

Speaker 1 I'm getting them $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters. But guys, I've never seen a Mongolian cashmere sweater for under $350.

Speaker 1 So take advantage of what's clearly

Speaker 1 some sort of glitch on their website with $50 Mongolian Cashmere sweaters. Guys, give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince.

Speaker 1 Go to quince.com/slash TAFS for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.
That's quince.com/slash T-A-F-S. Free shipping and 365-day returns.

Speaker 1 Quince.com/slash T-A-F-S.

Speaker 2 This has become a national news story, right? And it's a crappy time. You've made a lot of people feel like inspired.
Municipal politics is obviously messy.

Speaker 2 What balance in your team that you're building right now do you have between the guys that know just like the mud, you know, and then the guys that have the vision?

Speaker 2 I think it's looking to combine that in everybody.

Speaker 2 And I think it's tough because sometimes the more fluency and experience you have in government, the less imagination you have as to what government can be because you've had to deal with its failures for decades.

Speaker 2 You've been in the cigar rooms, yeah. And

Speaker 2 I think we've made a few appointments so far. The first appointment to me, Dean Fulihan, who's the first deputy mayor.
I appointed him and Elle Bisgard Church as my chief of staff.

Speaker 2 Elle is somebody I've known since I've been in office.

Speaker 2 I hired her as my chief of staff and I was in the assembly. She's been with you from the jump.
She's incredible.

Speaker 2 And Dean is somebody who'd been in government for 47 years. And he'd worked as a first deputy mayor before, he'd worked as the head of the budget before, he worked in Albany.

Speaker 2 And the thing that I love about him is that he's worked through all of that.

Speaker 2 And still, his orientation is how do we make a no into a how when it comes to any political problem.

Speaker 2 And that's a lot of people lose that the longer they work in government. Do you remember the night Obama won? Like, do you remember

Speaker 2 what it felt like? We're like, America is different now. You feel like to me the first generational talent that's come out of the progressive side of politics.

Speaker 2 But what we saw was like he wasn't prepared that that popularity didn't translate to legislative success. Did you take any notes from that? Did you learn from that?

Speaker 2 I mean, I'm trying to draw a parallel here. No, I think, look, I think the

Speaker 2 thing...

Speaker 2 The next challenge now is fulfilling the agenda. Yeah.

Speaker 2 This excitement, inspiration, this hope,

Speaker 2 it will carry us through the beginning of the work, and then you have to start to deliver on the work. And I think that is,

Speaker 2 that is actually what makes me excited, is that I actually see a path on each of the three key agenda points. And every time you win one of them, it validates people for believing.

Speaker 2 Because there are a lot of people who...

Speaker 2 They don't know if they should give themselves permission to hope again because of how many times they've been disappointed. And you have to prove that they were right to believe.

Speaker 2 You have to give them...

Speaker 2 when you like, if we spent an entire campaign talking about freezing the rent for rent, stabilized tenants, fast and free buses, universal childcare, the urgency of starting to deliver on that, it's what makes people understand that they were right to demand more.

Speaker 2 But is there a balance that you have to strike? Do you have to like, those people that believe in you,

Speaker 2 do you feel like there's a necessity to kind of inoculate them to understand it's not going to be overnight, right? Yeah, and I think that's

Speaker 2 that you have to be honest about a timeline. And that, you know, I'm not going to to tell anyone in the first hundred days we're achieving these three things.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 But they have to be able to see that you are working towards it and that you can actually deliver it while you're the mayor.

Speaker 2 And that's like I've been a legislator and the legislature, it's an incredible place for where you can craft bill ideas, vote on them, debate on them.

Speaker 2 So much of whether or not they succeed has to do with whether the executive wants to implement them.

Speaker 2 You could pass it through both houses. And if you have a, you know, when I first came into Albany, Cuomo was the governor.

Speaker 2 And you knew that that the implementation of the law, it could be completely different than what you intended.

Speaker 2 And now I will be the executive in New York City. And that's also what gives me so much hope is that

Speaker 2 you have the ability to follow through on so much of this.

Speaker 2 And we've been told again and again, what politicians can't do, it's really what they won't do.

Speaker 2 And that's... That's why I'm here on the Adam Friedland Show.
Yeah, yeah, I think you. There are plenty of ways they can fuck with you, right? Right?

Speaker 2 Like, and it's not only City Hall, it's like, which is, but it's, you know, Albany, it's DC, and it's like, it's you going out to see the president and like showing face and showing abs, maybe.

Speaker 2 I don't know what you did.

Speaker 2 I don't know what you did in that room. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Are there contingencies in place? You know, are you prepared for the fight? Because they're going to try to fuck with you. Yeah.
I mean, you have to be ready for that.

Speaker 2 You know, it's the worst job that you have.

Speaker 2 I don't think it's the worst job.

Speaker 2 Why are you doing this? Because you get to represent New York City. Yeah, it's the worst job.
You get booed everywhere you go. I mean, I saw deblasio.
I used to get booed anyway.

Speaker 2 I saw de Blasio get booed at a Paul Simon concert. No, and it was like an NPR parent family.
They were like, they're like, oh, fuck you.

Speaker 2 I was like, what? It's the bear. He has to get booed.
I mean, no, really, what it is.

Speaker 2 I mean, but like, that's also what I love about, like, to be a New Yorker, you're going to hear a lot of people's opinions. Like, I went to the Wu-Tang concert a few months ago.
You got booed?

Speaker 2 Well, most of the reception is like... Great.
People are cheering, waving, they want photos, and this one guy's like, yo, come take a photo of me. I'm like, yeah, what's up, dog?

Speaker 2 And as soon as we take the photo, he pulls out the selfie, and then he just flips me off in the selfie. That's funny.
And I'm like, respect. You do your bit, though.
Yeah, he likes you.

Speaker 2 I do that to my friends all the time. Yeah.
No, it's not that. It's what it is, is that

Speaker 2 it's a slog.

Speaker 2 It is definitely a slog. You have to do it your way, I assume.

Speaker 2 I think a big part of it is

Speaker 2 you have to keep

Speaker 2 yourself through it all. And you have to balance between the demands of what the city will require from you and how you don't lose yourself in the process of it.
When I was

Speaker 2 when I started in local politics, the first organization that I joined was the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. And one of the founders, her name is Alia Latif, she gave me this advice of

Speaker 2 whatever you do, make sure you can recognize yourself in the mirror at the end of the day.

Speaker 2 I think that's a big part of how I'm thinking about this: that work as hard as I can and do so to fulfill the vision we've had, not to comport yourself for a box that's being created.

Speaker 2 I met Lena Khan, she was on the show. She's great.

Speaker 2 Just four-minute warning. Four minute warnings.

Speaker 2 Can we get a score update? 4-1,

Speaker 2 it's domination.

Speaker 2 It's domination. I don't know what else to call it, man.

Speaker 2 Do you ever watch the Fox Soccer Channel commercials? No.

Speaker 2 They used to have the EPL. Yeah, yeah.
It'd just be like

Speaker 2 long commercials of Drugba.

Speaker 2 Oh, my. Don't descriptions of

Speaker 2 the Planet of a Man.

Speaker 2 Didier Drugba. That's the nightmares we have.

Speaker 2 The nightmare I have is a Diddy Adrogba bullying. They sender us cry? Michael Essian's goal? I guess, yeah.
When I met Lena Khan, she was on the show.

Speaker 2 And like, she's perhaps one of the most impressive people

Speaker 2 I've ever met. And when I heard she was part of the transition team, I was like, oh, he's got, like, he's got it.

Speaker 2 I mean, I genuinely, I mean, I asked her if she's ever lied, and she said, well, maybe in elementary school. And

Speaker 2 I think that was true. I mean, like, I think it was true.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 what was really effective was that she

Speaker 2 communicated antitrust laws in

Speaker 2 this complex stuff in a very clear and concise way.

Speaker 2 Sometimes progressives feel like snobs when they're talking to people.

Speaker 2 I remember, I mean,

Speaker 2 when I was running for state assembly, we put together our first blom card. Yeah.
And I thought it was absolutely fire.

Speaker 2 And I remember giving it to a friend of mine, Kara McCurdy, who is a great photographer. And she read it and she was like, what do these words mean? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Because so much of the time it feels like we're just speaking to ourselves. I mean, I think that's one thing that is going to be important is like just communicating not above people's heads.

Speaker 2 Just actually speaking with them. With people.
And I think that's the...

Speaker 2 It's

Speaker 2 the point is to bring people in to politics. Yeah.
Not to condescend to them as to why they're not already there.

Speaker 2 And it's also just much easier being yourself. Yeah.

Speaker 2 When you're speaking to people and

Speaker 2 you're going to get old, you think? Your face? Brother. You see them always, yeah.
You're going bald already? What do you mean already? I've been going bald. What are you doing for it?

Speaker 2 I'm just, I worry. No, you can't.
Do you do anything? Do you do like monoxidal? We could go to Turkey.

Speaker 2 You go to Turkey. I'll go right up going here.
I go rhythm plastic. You go here.
Oh, you can't go.

Speaker 2 Yeah, you are. Great.
Adam, we've got to wrap. Okay, last question.
This is just a little bit of a question.

Speaker 2 When I spoke to Lena, she said one thing that stuck with me. And I said, like, the most powerful companies in the world, the most powerful people in the world, like, are pissed at you.

Speaker 2 She had like hundreds of op-eds in the newspapers. No one knew what the fuck the FTC was.

Speaker 2 And her response to me was very impressive. It was like, she said, like, I said, did you ever clap back?

Speaker 2 She looked like confused. And she was like, no, I just have to like, I don't know, like win the lawsuit.
Let the work speak for itself.

Speaker 2 If you're getting pummeled in the press, like, how are you going to keep your horsebliders on and just focus on the agenda?

Speaker 2 I think

Speaker 2 you have to both be responsive, but I think she's right.

Speaker 2 There's two things she said about that experience that have really stayed with me. The first is that you always have to remember that that the opinions that you're hearing, that

Speaker 2 especially from the wealthy and the powerful, they will always be amplified in a way that working peoples are not.

Speaker 2 And if you remember that context, you take that seriously and you also don't think of it as surround, sound, and the way that it feels.

Speaker 2 And part of that means getting out of the office, getting actually into New York City, speaking to people, asking them what they're thinking about, what they're worried about.

Speaker 2 And then the other thing is that every time you win in your agenda, it proves that people are right to believe in that agenda in the first place.

Speaker 2 You have to both be able to respond to this and never let it distract you from the work that you're supposed to be doing. Because if she wins that lawsuit, then that's the proof.

Speaker 2 And if we deliver on this agenda, that's the proof. And I mean, Bernie talks about the thing that people are afraid of is that the power of example.

Speaker 2 That's what people are fearing. Not that we won't get it done, but that we will.

Speaker 2 Can you text him?

Speaker 2 I don't know, my phone's on me. You have his number, though?

Speaker 2 You should.

Speaker 2 Oh shit. I got...

Speaker 2 No, no, I gotta text.

Speaker 2 Oh, shit. I gotta give you the second time.

Speaker 2 Shit. Just being right again.
Yes, Zoran, how are you? No!

Speaker 2 I don't know if you recognize me.

Speaker 2 And this hair and the Tash, but

Speaker 2 I gotta go for the beginning. We got our heads.

Speaker 2 Yes, Zoran, how are you? We gotta go bad to you, I don't know if you recognize me with this badge and this hair and the sash

Speaker 2 we love told me that you guys were gonna watch the zombie together we're now you know you made me miss either before

Speaker 2 after or half time but I'm sure that we're winning somehow

Speaker 2 also I want to say

Speaker 2 one of those

Speaker 2 theory that

Speaker 2 being an Arsenal fan is heavily linked with being a fucking cool person.

Speaker 2 That my theory is really truly standing uh right now i i do huge congratulations it's like when uh aiden ross gave trump a tesla i i

Speaker 2 just huge dude even here in spain we feel the energy of what's happened uh he's truly need i love you so much too your world he was a rapper

Speaker 2 needs right now what the world needs right now and man just sending you lots of love and respect from here from spain from a big arsenal fan and former arsenal player to a massive Arsenal fan as well to you Adam as well sending you lots of love big hug and hope to see you guys soon.

Speaker 2 Enjoy the game

Speaker 2 Yes, Zora. I will tell you

Speaker 2 I'll text you to see you

Speaker 2 I DM'd everyone watched I DM'd everyone

Speaker 2 He's our era too. He's our era.
He's a style icon

Speaker 2 He's incredible.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I can't believe I did that. I feel like Oprah right now.
You in a car. I'll take you to you.

Speaker 2 Hector, I love you.

Speaker 2 Go ahead.

Speaker 2 What's the score? Three, one.

Speaker 2 What?