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EXCLUSIVE: Zohran Mamdani Talks to Raw America

We interview New York's mayor as we ramp up our original news coverage. Become a paid subscriber today to help us do more.

This week, Raw America scored an exclusive interview with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in an exciting sign of original reports to come.

In partnership with Really American, we met up with Mamdani as he delivered his first 100 days address. While corporate media attack Mamdani for taxes on billionaires, Raw America steps in to get you the truth from the source.

The interview you’re about to read comes from the kind of access that only independent media builds: because we show up, we ask real questions, and we don’t have a billionaire deciding what’s too uncomfortable to air.

We haven’t even been doing this for 90 days, and look what we’ve delivered. We have a reporter in D.C. We’re working on scoops on Capitol Hill. And now we have Marco Foster in New York, getting sit-downs with the mayor of the largest city in America.

We’re doing all of this thanks to you. Without an oligarch telling us what to say. Without anyone’s permission.

But we can only keep doing it if you make it possible.

If you’ve been reading Raw America for free, today’s the day to become a paid subscriber. We need your help. Not next week. Today.

Here’s what Marco got.

Raw America Exclusive: Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Crime, DOGE, Elon Musk, and What’s Coming Next

One hundred days into his historic tenure as New York City’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in a generation, Zohran Mamdani sat down with Raw America’s Marco Foster for a wide-ranging conversation. Here’s what he had to say.

On his first 100 days:

“We’ve tried to show over this little more than three months a glimpse into what the four years could look like. In this time, we’ve delivered $1.2 billion in funding for universal child care, $9.3 million back in the pockets of workers and small businesses, and done all of it while filling in 102,000 potholes across the five boroughs.”

On record-low crime and his message to the skeptics:

“I think the statistics speak for themselves. We’re seeing record lows for murder in New York City history. Staten Island has gone more than 180 days now without a murder, and we’re seeing joint record lows for shootings across our city. All of this shows that our approach to public safety is working, and that this is the city where our best days are still in front of us.”

On Elon Musk calling him a “charismatic swindler,” and how a Democratic Socialist out-performed DOGE on waste, fraud, and abuse:

“This isn’t actually a right-wing concern — it’s a concern right at the heart of left-wing politics. Because as people who care deeply about public goods, we care just as deeply about public excellence. We know that if we want New Yorkers to believe in the power of government to deliver for them, we have to show that every single dollar in our budget is going towards exactly that.”

On what’s coming in the next 100 days:

“We’re very excited to start to lay out how we can continue to deliver wins on affordability for working New Yorkers. And these are wins that don’t have to be translated — but ones that you can feel in your pocket.”

He was teasing what he announced that same night: a city-owned grocery store in East Harlem, expanded fast bus lanes, and a new garbage containerization program. Raw America’s Marco Foster was there to get it first.


That’s what independent media looks like when it’s working.

While Bari Weiss is gutting 60 Minutes. While Jeff Bezos is turning the Washington Post into a both-sides machine. While CNN trends toward a Trump-friendly buyer, Raw America is sitting across from the mayor of New York City, asking him about Elon Musk to his face.

We’re in the rooms. And we’re growing every single week.

But here’s the honest truth: we’re behind on our fundraising goals. Not because the journalism isn’t resonating. Because we don’t have a billionaire covering the gap.

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Become a paid subscriber today. The story is happening right now. Join us in the fight to tell it.

— John Byrne

Founder, Raw America and Raw Story

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