Theodore Hamm is the author of Bernie’s Brooklyn: How Growing Up in the New Deal City Shaped Bernie Sanders’ Politics. He wrote about the 2025 race for The Indypendent  and Drop Site News. Hamm is chair of journalism at St. Joseph’s University, NY. He lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a stronghold of the NYC-DSA.

After his humiliating defeat in the June primary, Andrew Cuomo spent the summer hurling insults at the Democratic nominee, bitterly denouncing Zohran as a “limousine socialist.” Mamdani deftly responded to the relentless onslaught with stinging ridicule. A few days after the sputtering second-place challenger called for his eviction from his rent-controlled apartment, Zohran posted a video underneath a simple statement: “#ReleaseTheCuomoList.” The hashtag spun off from the roiling Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

In just under 90 seconds, Mamdani presented a sequence of clips that began with news coverage of the former governor’s sexual harassment and pandemic controversies. As Zohran stated, “Less well known is what Cuomo spent the last four years doing—besides getting trounced in the Democratic primary.” For added emphasis, an insert box featured a nightly news clip showing the smiling victor collecting 56% of the vote and the scowling runner-up at 44%. The left hook landed.

Although the presentation offered no direct link between Cuomo and Epstein, the viral statement illustrated Zohran’s readiness to throw mud back at his spiteful rival. It also showed that the Democratic nominee would wrap his counterattacks around the second-place challenger’s scandal-ridden track record. “Andrew Cuomo is someone who doesn’t understand that no means no,” the nominee advised reporters that week regarding why the toppled frontrunner stayed in the general election race. Zohran thus painted his opponent as both a predator and a sore loser, with Cuomo himself providing daily reinforcement of the latter point.

While Team Cuomo disseminated standard issue campaign content, the Zohran for NYC crew continued to create cutting-edge stuff. In one post that spawned national headlines, Mamdani never even appeared. Leftist actor Morgan Spector, who plays railroad magnate George Russell in HBO’s The Gilded Age, carried the video segment. Cuomo was not its primary target.

Zohran for NYC creative director Andrew Epstein told me that when he first read the New York Times piece about the Hamptons “freakout” about the race, he found it “completely absurd” and ripe for parody. Andrew wanted Zohran to perform the reading, but campaign senior advisor Zara Rahim suggested that because of his Gilded Age role and political commitments, Spector would be perfect. They did the shoot at the Brooklyn Heights home of a Mamdani supporter. “I’ve been told that it made the rounds internally at the Times,” Andrew noted ten days after the much-touted post went up.

Most politicians avoid antagonizing the New York City establishment. As seen quite dramatically during the 2025 primary, the 1% regularly bankroll challengers against their critics. Prominent figures in the arts also generally prefer to stay in good standing with the Times, an outlet that helps steer the national conversation. But Mamdani and Spector were unafraid to fight back against the bullies—and do so via winning satire.

Theodore Hamm is the author of Bernie’s Brooklyn: How Growing Up in the New Deal City Shaped Bernie Sanders’ Politics. He wrote about the 2025 race for The Indypendent  and Drop Site News. Hamm is chair of journalism at St. Joseph’s University, NY. He lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a stronghold of the NYC-DSA.

After his humiliating defeat in the June primary, Andrew Cuomo spent the summer hurling insults at the Democratic nominee, bitterly denouncing Zohran as a “limousine socialist.” Mamdani deftly responded to the relentless onslaught with stinging ridicule. A few days after the sputtering second-place challenger called for his eviction from his rent-controlled apartment, Zohran posted a video underneath a simple statement: “#ReleaseTheCuomoList.” The hashtag spun off from the roiling Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

In just under 90 seconds, Mamdani presented a sequence of clips that began with news coverage of the former governor’s sexual harassment and pandemic controversies. As Zohran stated, “Less well known is what Cuomo spent the last four years doing—besides getting trounced in the Democratic primary.” For added emphasis, an insert box featured a nightly news clip showing the smiling victor collecting 56% of the vote and the scowling runner-up at 44%. The left hook landed.

Although the presentation offered no direct link between Cuomo and Epstein, the viral statement illustrated Zohran’s readiness to throw mud back at his spiteful rival. It also showed that the Democratic nominee would wrap his counterattacks around the second-place challenger’s scandal-ridden track record. “Andrew Cuomo is someone who doesn’t understand that no means no,” the nominee advised reporters that week regarding why the toppled frontrunner stayed in the general election race. Zohran thus painted his opponent as both a predator and a sore loser, with Cuomo himself providing daily reinforcement of the latter point.

While Team Cuomo disseminated standard issue campaign content, the Zohran for NYC crew continued to create cutting-edge stuff. In one post that spawned national headlines, Mamdani never even appeared. Leftist actor Morgan Spector, who plays railroad magnate George Russell in HBO’s The Gilded Age, carried the video segment. Cuomo was not its primary target.

Zohran for NYC creative director Andrew Epstein told me that when he first read the New York Times piece about the Hamptons “freakout” about the race, he found it “completely absurd” and ripe for parody. Andrew wanted Zohran to perform the reading, but campaign senior advisor Zara Rahim suggested that because of his Gilded Age role and political commitments, Spector would be perfect. They did the shoot at the Brooklyn Heights home of a Mamdani supporter. “I’ve been told that it made the rounds internally at the Times,” Andrew noted ten days after the much-touted post went up.

Most politicians avoid antagonizing the New York City establishment. As seen quite dramatically during the 2025 primary, the 1% regularly bankroll challengers against their critics. Prominent figures in the arts also generally prefer to stay in good standing with the Times, an outlet that helps steer the national conversation. But Mamdani and Spector were unafraid to fight back against the bullies—and do so via winning satire.