Sunny Hostin believes that Zohran Mamdani successfully “played” Donald Trump during his recent visit to the White House.
The legal expert weighed in on the unexpectedly friendly meeting between New York City’s mayor-elect and the president on Monday’s episode of The View.
“Mamdani played him like a New Yorker would play anybody,” Hostin said. “That’s the bottom line. New Yorkers, we’re a special breed of people, okay? I’m from the Bronx. He lived in Queens. He went to school in the Bronx. Game knows game.”
The cohost explained that Mamdani won over Trump by speaking his language.
“He talked about housing, he talked about building housing, affordability, let’s face it, Trump wants a bit of the New York housing business,” she added. “This was about business. Mamdani, we’ve gotta give it to him — he played it like a politician.”
After months of exchanging barbs in the lead-up to the New York City mayoral election, Mamdani and Trump appeared to be in good standing when the mayor-elect visited the White House on Nov. 21.
During their meeting, Trump waved off Mamdani’s previous insults about him when brought up by reporters and described the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist as a “very rational person” who “wants to see New York be great again,” the Associated Press reports. The president added, “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job.”
Mamdani, in turn, noted that he and Trump both ran their recent political campaigns on the importance of affordability. Trump also acknowledged the common ground between them, adding, “We had some interesting conversations and some of his ideas are the same that I have.”
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Speaking on The View, Ana Navarro noted that, despite living in Florida, Trump is and always has been a New Yorker at heart.
“His name is all over this city. His friends are all from New York. This is where he has spent most of his adult life,” she said, with Joy Behar stating, “He got 24 percent of the vote.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin added that the meeting showcased how “the populist left and the populist right overlap” on a lot more issues than either side would expect.
“Those of us who are not Democratic Socialists or far right, alt-right MAGA types are like, ‘I’m sorry, someone please represent us,’” she said. “And it’s neither of these.”
Earlier in the segment, Behar said that Trump has always wanted the “love of New York” and its people.
“He grew up in Queens, the Manhattanites always rejected him, they thought he was trashy, whatever they said, and he wants it so badly,” she said. “So that’s to our advantage in New York, maybe, because we need the money from the federal government.”
The View airs weekdays on ABC.
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