Besides his communist parents, there's probably no one who knows more about New York City's Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani than my PJ Media colleague, Robert Spencer.
Spencer has written more than 30 books over his storied career. One of my longtime favorites is The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades). Because of his depth of knowledge of all things Islam and Islamism (not necessarily the same thing), he brings needed context to the meaning of Mamdani's election in his latest book, Intifada on the Hudson: The Selling of Zohran Mamdani.
I was able to interview Robert on The Adult in the Room podcast to talk about his book and hear some stories about Mamdani, one of which demonstrated his precocious political prowess in middle school. See our wide-ranging conversation below.
Not that he probably remembers, but I've interviewed Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch and honored Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, at least a couple of times over the years. And ordinarily I'd be a bit nervous and afraid of not being able to measure up, but since we're colleagues (though he's on a level far above mine), I was feeling relaxed, even after some initial technical bugs.
Spencer brings a breadth of knowledge on the role of Islamists in American politics. The recent marriage of Marxism and Islamism, as seen in members of The Squad — Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar — and newcomers Mamdani and the unsuccessful Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh, dates back to the phony Arab Spring. That uprising was aided and abetted by the Obama State Department and USAID's patented color revolution playbook, the latest iteration of which brought you the January 6 Fedsurrection.
Interesting side note: Fateh's loss arose when Minnesota voters from another Somali tribe colluded to vote for Mayor Jacob Frey instead of the fellow Somali guy who was from a different, warring tribe. This disaster was brought to you by the Bill Clinton U.S. State Department and, of course, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—post-Black Hawk Down — to import warring tribal clans. Of course, the well fed young men from Minneapolis provide their "home" — not America — with a constant supply of Al Shabaab fighters, so there's that.
Random question: Does America declare anyone persona non grata (PNG) anymore? Also, can we tell the UNHCR to butt out of our immigration programs? Thanks.
I wondered how a man who touted intifada and communistic beliefs and Islamism got elected to be mayor of a city that 25 years ago was devastated by a jihadist Islamic attack. How does a man get elected in New York after he cozied up to the imam of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 with a direct through line to the 2001 attack? And why did he get such great support from Jewish people?
Thankfully, Robert provided some answers.
We spent quite a while going over Mamdani's angry victory speech, especially his references to commie Eugene Debs. "Eugene Debs became a socialist before Lenin, before Stalin, before Mao..." but didn't see the deaths and gulags that today's leftists are aware of.
I showed him a wild video of pro-Mamdani American women on election night in ecstasy. "New York City caliphate starts now, baby!" said one. Somebody should send these chicks a copy of Spencer's book, or at least give them a head's up on how this whole caliphate thing ends for women.
Spencer offers insights into the mayoral race itself. Andrew Cuomo was a horrible candidate. Mamdani suffered no consequences for posing with an unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which is wholly connected to 9/11.
New York voters have lost their collective minds.
See my discussion with Robert Spencer below.
