New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani playfully announced his trip to Uganda with his wife Rama in a video posted to X.
“Being a politician means listening, not just to your supporters, but your critics too,” Mamdani said. “And some of these critics — especially on a certain website — have been giving me consistent advice.”
Mamdani then proceeded to read off tweets from various users calling him to go back to Africa. The 33-year-old was born in Uganda and holds dual citizenship in Uganda and the United States. At 7 years old, Mamdani moved to New York City from South Africa.
“I hear you, and I agree. I’m going back to Uganda,” Mamdani said.
He said his visit to Uganda will be in a “personal capacity” to celebrate with his friends and family his marriage to wife Rama. The couple got married earlier this year. Mamdani shared that he will be returning to the United States “by the end of the month.”
“I do want to apologize to the haters, because I will be coming back,” he said. “And since you will undoubtedly read about this trip in the New York Post, inshallah on the front page, here are a few of my humble suggestions for headlines.”
Mamdani then proceeded to list off a handful of suggested headlines centered around his Uganda trip such as “M.I.A.? Mandani in Africa,” “Uganda Miss Me,” “He’s Kampala-etely Crazy,” a reference to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, He Africa-n’t Be Serious!”, “Carl Kampalanile Investigates Mamdani” — a satirical nod to investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, who uncovered the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration.
The conservative-leaning New York Post has run opinion pieces critical of the 33-year-old Democratic socialist and has drawn attention to Mamdani’s wealthy upbringing. He claimed to have less than $2,000 in his bank account in financial filings.
The New York Post reported that Mamdani owns four acres of land in Uganda valued between $150,000 and $250,000 and that his mother owned a $2 million loft in New York City for about a decade.
In a resurfaced video, Mamdani called for the “abolition of private property.”
“If there was any system that could guarantee each person housing — whether you call it the abolition of private property or you call it a statewide housing guarantee — it is preferable to what is going on right now,” he said in the video.
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