New York City, you have shocked the nation! After polling of New Yorkers showed a narrowing gap between Cuomo and Mamdani but in no way predicted a decisive, night-one win for Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist pulled off a stunning win. We talk all about it on this week’s episode of the podcast, as well as, with our guest Pastor Benjamin Dixon, the MAGA terrorist attack in Minnesota and how social media is fueling violent rhetoric towards the black community. Watch below:

Everybody in establishment media was ready to dig a grave for the mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member and current NY State Assembly member running on a platform of making NYC affordable for working-class residents. But with an incredible ground game thanks to DSA’s mobilization and messaging geared toward a city burdened by high rents and childcare costs, Zohran pulled off an amazing win on Tuesday night.

And, predictably, Dems are having a meltdown about it. How dare a Muslim socialist focusing on helping working people win the class war prevail over a disgraced sex offender? Cuomo had dark money on his side and used it to spread a message of fear about crime and homelessness in the city, trying to scare people into voting for the status quo. Cuomo and the media also baselessly smeared Zohran as an anti-Semite for daring to criticize Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians. But it didn’t work. New Yorkers want better for themselves and future generations, and their knowledge of Cuomo’s governance (and travails under the Eric Adams mayoralty) has left them wanting more than the same old establishment candidates have to offer.

Also in this episode, Pastor Dixon brings our attention to a serious problem sweeping social media, especially X: violent rhetoric directed at the black community, pointing toward actual mob violence. He points to Grok’s assessment of this rhetoric on X, which predicted a 50 percent chance of targeted violence against the black community in the next 18 months and a 30 percent chance of mob violence in the next two years. It’s a terrifying and bleak time as we witness the encouragement of disgusting racism from the highest echelons of our government.

Pastor Dixon reads this moment as the evolution of fascism, developed at a horrifying rate (but by no means created) by the Trump presidency. He connects this threat of violence with the MAGA attacks in Minnesota and the racist vitriol that Zohran faced, giving us a chilling portrait of the bigotry at the heart of this country’s right wing — and pointing to the urgency of reversing this trend as a major goal for the left.

Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this episode as a podcast when it’s released tomorrow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more.