A 2013 interview with New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's mother has revealed that at that time, when Mamdani was in college, he and his family did not consider himself to be an American (although he was a naturalized citizen from age 7).

Mira Nair, a filmmaker, said to the Hindustani Times at the time, "He is a total desi," which meant a person of Indian descent.

“Completely. We are not firangs at all. He is very much us. He is not an Uhmericcan (American) at all,” she continued.

“He was born in Uganda, raised between India and America. He is at home in many places. He thinks of himself as a Ugandan and as an Indian.”

More background

Firang is a term used to mean "foreigner." Keep in mind that she was speaking to an Indian newspaper, so foreigner in this instance would mean someone who was not Indian. Nair also said that the family spoke only Hindustani at home.

She seemed to have a window to Mamdani's future, including his political aspirations. “He is very involved with current affairs, politics, and political issues,” she said at the time. “I think he can be engaged in the world in someway to make a difference. He is very very interested in that.”

According to the New York Times, Mamdani graduated from liberal Bowdoin College in 2014 with a degree in Africana Studies.

He self-identifies as a Democratic Socialist, and would be the first such member to hold a major public office--the mayor of the largest city in the country by population.

He's in the lead

Mamdani has a comfortable lead in the NYC mayor's race; he is being challenged by former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate.

Recent polls show Mamdani with at least a 10% lead with less than a week until Election Day.

Some Republicans have decided to vote for Cuomo, who left the governor's mansion in disgrace after resigning in 2021 due to multiple sexual harassment allegations.

It's a sad state of affairs, since Sliwa is only polling at around 20% and even President Donald Trump said he "wasn't ready for prime time."

Whether he considers himself an American or not, Mamdani would be a disaster for New York City, but he has support from Blacks, foreign-born citizens, and other key demographics.

New Yorkers are notoriously liberal, but they are going to find out what happens when you elect a socialist, and it's not going to be pretty.