US Politics
Zohran Mamdani’s cringe moment as CNN’s Erin Burnett makes him watch his 2019 rap video
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New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani found himself awkwardly confronted with a resurfaced 2019 rap video during a live interview on CNN.
Mamdani, 33, appeared Thursday on Erin Burnett OutFront, where the host unexpectedly reminded audiences that the New York assembly member was an aspiring rapper who went by Mr. Cardamom.
Burnett played a portion of his music video “Nani,” which is still on YouTube, as Mamdani tried to keep a straight face through the embarrassment. The clip captured Burnett, friends, and Indian-born British-American actress Madhur Jaffrey, dancing in a food truck. In one scene, Mamdani wore an apron with nothing underneath.
“Once you do it, it’s out there,” Burnett told Mamdani once the clip was over.
“I didn’t think it was going to be on CNN,” Mamdani quipped, with a shy smile.
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Elsewhere, Burnett pressed Mamdani on whether critics’ concerns that he may not be “ready now” to govern America’s largest city were valid.
“I would say a campaign offers a glimpse into what an administration would look like, and we built a campaign the likes of which the city has not seen in a long time,” he responded.
This isn’t the first time Mamdani’s attempted music career piqued public interest. In a 2017 song titled Salam, Mamdani praised the “Holy Land Five” — five men convicted in 2008 of donating over $12 million to Hamas. The group was found guilty on 108 counts, including supporting terrorism, tax fraud, and money laundering.
“My love to the Holy Land Five. You better look ‘em up,” Mamdani sang as Mr. Cardamom.
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Mamdani’s rap background hasn’t exactly won over 50 Cent, however, who offered him a “first-class one-way ticket” out of New York after the mayoral candidate proposed raising his taxes.
On Wednesday, the “In Da Club” rapper criticized Mamdani’s proposal in a social media post, writing, “Where did he come from[?] Whose friend is this? I’m not feeling this plan no.”
“I will give him $258,750 and a first class one way ticket away from NY. I’m telling [President Donald] Trump what he said too!” 50 Cent added.