Vonhan

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@JeremiahDJohns @nyeditboard Isn’t the more embarrassing part that the incumbent is so terrible that he might actually lose to such a person?

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@JeremiahDJohns @nyeditboard To me what’s more embarrassing is that the incumbent is so bad that he might lose to such a crazy person

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@Callystarr @zeiltin @Jason No he’s not moderate that’s why I added the descriptor that someone as talented but more moderate

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@Callystarr @zeiltin @Jason He’s not moderate. I meant talented but he’s too left wing. So someone who is as talented but not as left wing so a “moderate Mamdani” because the actual Mamdani is too left wing that’s why I added the descriptor

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

I’m not that enamored by charter schools as u are. My main concerns with him were removing standardized testing, ending merit based tests to specialized high schools, ending mayoral control, not going forward with better tested reforms put forward by Adams and he’s clearly been status quo on all this.

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

No city other than nyc even does gifted and talented for kindergarten. It’s a bit useless to do it that young, even centrist technocrat Kathryn Garcia last mayoral cycle vowed to end it for kindergarten. Almost no one other than Whitney Tilson on that stage was affirmatively arguing for expanding charter schools. Mamdani is status quo on education, keeping Eric Adams reforms, which is in contrast to JLG offering hard left education policy CHANGE.

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

I think Trump is unique in being sociopathic. Usually these things signal something real. I don’t rlly understand what purpose Micah Lasher had in projecting onto Mamdani when they disagree on lots of issues? He got a lot of shit from rabbis on upper west side for vouching for him so it signaled something real to me that he was still willing to do so even if his political incentives weren’t aligned

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@neqyve @acher_2 @mattyglesias @CharlesFLehman I think it mattered that smart ppl who didn’t share his ideology but who knew him personally were vouching for him. I remember the endorsement that moved me was of Bloomberg alum Micah Lasher who wrote a cautious but sort of sweet endorsement of Mamdani: https://t.co/q4BY5JxrS6

[Micah Lasher @MicahLasher]

I am in the unusual position of having gotten to know @ZohranKMamdani as a colleague in the State Assembly. We share a belief in the power of government to solve big problems, and have built an unexpected friendship in spite of deeply felt disagreements. I know Zohran to be a person not only of intelligence and integrity but with uncommon capacity for listening and growth. This is a rare combination in a politician.

Being mayor is a fundamentally different job than serving as a legislator representing a single district. As he moves into a position of citywide leadership, I hope that Zohran can come to better appreciate the deeply personal and historical importance that the survival of Israel as a Jewish state holds for Jewish New Yorkers. I hope that he is able to see antisemitism when it takes the form of a double-standard being applied to Israel precisely because it is a Jewish state.

And I will continue to be among those urging Zohran to speak with clarity when it comes to rhetoric — including the invocation or celebration of intifada — that makes Jewish New Yorkers, or any community in our city, feel threatened. This is not about “policing speech,” but about setting a standard for peaceful discourse. We have seen President Trump, through winks and nods and conspicuous silence, make all kinds of hate speech socially acceptable, and the mayor of New York City should not follow suit. We witness all around us the reminder that violent rhetoric can and does lead to actual violence.

I say all of this consistent with the spirit of Zohran’s message on election night, when he said that he would “reach further to understand the perspectives of those with whom I disagree, and to wrestle deeply with those disagreements.” I do not naively think that he is going to suddenly break from long-held positions, but I know from time spent with Zohran that he engages seriously with divergent perspectives. I believe that those of us who care about the future of the city should reach for his outstretched hand.

Zohran has the talent to breathe much-needed new life into City government and the personal gifts to bring New Yorkers together around a positive vision for the future. As a New York City patriot, I am determined to help Zohran be the best mayor he can be, and to help him achieve, in smart and effective ways, his worthy goal of making a real dent in the affordability crisis. And so I am going to extend my hand, support Zohran’s campaign to win the general election, and do whatever I can to help him build the bridges necessary to succeed, for all of us, as mayor.

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

This is true but it was always half hearted and anyone serious understood that he would flip once he got into office. The more significant signals were dropping opposition to existing charter schools (even if he doesn’t want new ones) + continuing merit based admissions to specialized high schools + interviewing Adams chancellor

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

Patrick Gaspard, his closest adviser, signaled to New York editorial board he was going to change his mind on that. He also flipped on merit based exams in the primary itself to get the endorsment of John Luis (representing east Asian districts) . It didn’t seem like Mamdani cared about education either way whereas JLG seems invested in bad education policy.

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@dansenor @Timodc It’s an appropriate distinction though

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

The issue is that American hawks & Ukraine hawks were all aligned. A ton of American hawks (Robert Kagan, Bulwark crowd, hawkish Dem senators) were not for this war, but hawks who rlly care about Israel were for this war (Gottheimer, Lindsey Graham, ppl like u) so distinction btw “American hawk” & “Israel hawk” is appropriate

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@SpeakerMenin @JulieMenin @NYCKidsRISE @CMCrystalHudson Why it’s a bad idea https://t.co/SeF1Srnh2y

[Matthew Zeitlin @MattZeitlin]

Why give an 18 year old 2 grand instead of an infant? These baby bond ideas seem to work backwards from poorly understood racial wealth gap statistics and end up poorly targeting actual need in the lifecycle

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@SpeakerMenin @JulieMenin @NYCKidsRISE @CMCrystalHudson This is backward logic I thought u would be a good check on Mamdani’s worst impulses but u are quite stupid yourself it seems https://t.co/SeF1Srnh2y

[Matthew Zeitlin @MattZeitlin]

Why give an 18 year old 2 grand instead of an infant? These baby bond ideas seem to work backwards from poorly understood racial wealth gap statistics and end up poorly targeting actual need in the lifecycle

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

Yes. I genuinely think it would be helpful if he said that. A lot of the youth who are getting into casual antisemitism are not hateful, they’re just absorbing it casually. It would be constructive for these low trust youth to hear from a politician they like and trust to explicitly denounce some of these paleocon types on the right.

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@XerifiedNobody @mattyglesias I know. But Tucker Carlson is deliberately trying to expand his audience by indirectly saying positive things about Mamdani. It would be helpful for a reporter to directly ask Mamdani to denounce ppl like Tucker so the ppl following Mamdani understand he’s not a good guy

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

Are there anti-black and anti-other minorities as well or are there normal and just exclusively antisemitic? Like how do they feel about Mamdani? Somebody should ask Mamdani to denounce right wing horseshoe antisemitism at least. It’s weird he’s never asked about support he gets from unsavory places

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@Mike_from_PA @zeteo_news @ZohranKMamdani You are being extremely misleading. This was before his scandals. In the latest interview where he was asked, he refused to even say his name and just dodged. Stop spreading nonsense

[Vonhan @vonmon98]

@Mike_from_PA @zeteo_news @ZohranKMamdani You are just being misleading this was before his allegations and scanals came out