“Saturday Night Live” ripped Zohran Mamdani for making empty promises — and mocked his appeals to white guilt in a blistering parody of the New York mayor’s race.
Mocking the socialist Dem’s constant vacant smile, comedian Ramy Youssef rattled off a list of Mamdani pledges during his portrayal of the frontrunner on Saturday’s NBC show.
Asked by debate chair Kenan Thompson, “Why would you want the worst job in the world?” Youssef’s Mamdani claimed he wanted to offer a “better New York,” before admitting his ideas were unlikely to happen.
“Free healthcare, affordable housing, free WiFi,” he said. “As mayor, can I make that happen? I’m not sure yet. But together, we’re going to find out… that the answer is no.”
The sketch, which also featured guest host Miles Teller as Andrew Cuomo and Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa, wen on to mock Mamdani’s “hot girls for Zohran” campaign — depicting his supporters as gentrifying yuppies.
Asked by the chair what his message to undecided voters was, Mamdani fawned directly into the camera while a “heart” filter came up on the screen.
“Hey girl,” he said. “I know you got, uh, got a little white guilt for gentrifying that Spanish neighborhood, don’t you? Why don’t you vote for me?
“You know, you feel a little less bad about that chicken and rice shop getting turned into a Sweetgreen,” he added. “So why don’t you hit me up at the ballot box, girl?”
Polling data shows Mamdani received the greatest support in the Democratic primary in Ridgewood, Bushwick and Bed-Stuy, three neighborhoods synonymous with gentrification in New York.
Later in the sketch, James Austin Johnson reprised his role as President Trump to mock Mamdani.
“And here we have the front-runner, Zohran Mamdani,” he said. “Looks like the SubwayTakes guy went to work at McKinsey.”
“You know, you feel a little less bad about that chicken and rice shop getting turned into a Sweetgreen. So why don’t you hit me up at the ballot box, girl?” he added, prompting a mock rebuke from chair Thompson.
“Mr Mamdani, you were warned that this is not the forum for your TikTokry,” he said, referencing the 34-year-old’s social media presence.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
