Obama Calls Mamdani to Praise His Campaign, Offers to Be Sounding Board [View all]

Source: New York Times

Nov. 1, 2025, 3:05 p.m. ET


Former President Barack Obama called New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Saturday, praising his campaign and offering to be a “sounding board” into the future. The private, roughly 30-minute phone call, which has not previously been reported, was described by two people who participated or were briefed immediately on what had been said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private conversation. Mr. Obama said that he was invested in Mr. Mamdani’s success beyond the election on Tuesday.

They talked about the challenges of staffing a new administration and building an apparatus capable of delivering on Mr. Mamdani’s agenda of affordability in the city, the people said. The former president’s outreach on the eve of what has been a contentious election is notable, given how divided the Democratic establishment has been over Mr. Mamdani and the role that Mr. Obama still plays in the party. Mr. Obama spoke admiringly about how Mr. Mamdani has run his campaign, making light of his own past political missteps and noting how few Mr. Mamdani had made under such a bright spotlight.

“Your campaign has been impressive to watch,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Mamdani, according to the people. Mr. Obama has not formally endorsed Mr. Mamdani, in keeping with his general practice of avoiding any intervention in municipal races since he left office. But the call — the second between the two men since the Democratic primary — represents an important signal of Mr. Obama’s support as other leaders in the Democratic Party have kept a palpable distance from Mr. Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist.

Mr. Obama offered to be a “sounding board” if Mr. Mamdani wins the election, and the two discussed preliminary plans to meet in person at some point in Washington, though no meeting date has been set. Mr. Mamdani thanked the former president for the call, the people said, and told him that he had drawn inspiration for his own recent speech on Islamophobia from Mr. Obama’s speech on race during his first presidential run.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/nyregion/zohran-mamdani-barack-obama-election.html