Trump fumes as young Muslim mayor takes charge of Big Apple

To say there is never a dull moment in American politics while President Trump is around is an understatement. So it was this week, when the city of New York elected a new mayor in a massive turnout of voters.

Not just any mayor, mind you. The winner was 34-year-old Democrat* Zohran Mamdani, the youngest mayor since 1892. Born in Uganda with parents of Indian descent, he arrived in America via South Africa with his family when he was just seven, settling in New York City.

But wait, there’s more!

He is also a Muslim (the first to be mayor of NYC) and an avowed* socialist*. His successful campaign was heavily based on cost-of-living issues: freezing rents, universal childcare, government operated grocery stores with low cost items, and the construction of 200,000 new affordable living home units.

He also promised to tax corporations more, as well as private citizens earning more than a million dollars. You can hear the raucous* applause and cheering from those New Yorkers struggling to keep their heads above water in these tough economic times, but then you can also hear raspberries being blown at Mamdani and his campaign by the nation’s commander-in-chief. Donald Trump is not a fan of Zohran Mamdani. In fact, Trump declared that he would restrict federal funding for NYC if Mamdani won.

Well, win he did, defeating the former well-known mayor Andrew Cuomo, and so it was on. Trump called Mamdani a communist and in Mamdani’s acceptance speech on election night, he pulled no punches*, saying New Yorkers had given him a mandate* for change and a new kind of politics.

As mayor of the most expensive city in the world, he said he would lift up the working poor and not be in the grasp of the rich and powerful. He goaded* Trump, calling him a despot* and telling the President to turn up the sound on his television so he could hear what Mamdani had to say.

Of course, the new mayor is untested and the question is: can he run the Big Apple* as well as he campaigns? Can he walk the walk? Time will tell.

But what a great issue for a political cartoon. Politics is largely adversarial*, and here we have two completely polar opposite leaders taking cracks at each other. I wanted to look at the President’s displeasure with the election of Mamdani and how he might react to it.

Trump has been sending National Guard troops into US cities he believes have a crime and law and order problem, as well as the Immigration Customs Enforcement* (ICE) officers to arrest visa overstayers and non-citizens. Should I draw a cartoon with tanks rolling down 5th Avenue staging a presidential coup?

I like to use well known iconic* symbols in my cartoons. Could I have the Statue of Liberty saying something? In fact I went with another well known giant icon of New York. Donald Trump sees New York as “his” town. He grew up there, his father was a major property developer of New York and that is where the Trump Tower is. One of the great moments in Hollywood movie history is when King Kong stands atop of the Empire State Building and while beating his chest, roars with anger. “Perfect,” I thought, “that is how I shall portray the President’s unhappiness with the new mayor!”

In the cartoon, to contrast Trump high up on the Empire State, I focused on a street level scene with a typical New Yorker’s casual, dispassionate* reflection on the President’s reaction to Mamdani’s win. It is splashed across the front page of the New York Times. This is a comedic technique designed to downplay the punchline, which in fact gives it more resonance*. The native New Yorker, probably in a thick Brooklyn accent, declares, “Someone’s not gonna be happy …”.

Ain’t that the truth!

POLL

GLOSSARY

• Democrats: one of two major political parties in the US and generally more progressive; the other major party is the Republicans, who are currently in power under President Trump
• avowed: openly declared, freely acknowledged, publicly committed
• socialist: believers in an economic, political and social system that is based on believing all people are equal and should share equally in a country’s money
• raucous: very loud and disorderly
• pulled no punches: didn’t hold back
• despot: dictator, tyrant, a ruler with unlimited power over other people
• mandate: authority given to an elected person or people to perform or govern based on their campaign promises
• goaded: provoked, pushed, spurred, drove someone or something to react
• immigration: process of people coming into a foreign country to live there, as well as the number of people coming in
• customs: the government department that collects taxes on goods bought, sold and brought into the country, and that checks what comes in
• enforcement: the process of making people obey a law or rule
• Big Apple: a popular nickname for New York City that dates back to the 1920s
• adversarial: antagonistic, involving conflict with people opposing or disagreeing with each other
• iconic: very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time
• dispassionate: clear, calm, not being influenced by emotions

EXTRA READING

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Albo meets Trump at White House

QUICK QUIZ

1. Who is the mayor elect of New York City?
2. What are at least three interesting facts about him that Mark Knight mentions?
3. Why does Mark say that President Trump thinks of NYC as “his” town?
4. Where has Trump been sending National Guard troops?
5. What have Immigration Customs Enforcement officers been doing in the US?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Humour analysis
After reading and analysing the Mark Knight cartoon in the Kids News explainer, complete the following analysis questions to help you get the full humour out of his drawing.

Mark Knight cartoon analysis:

What is the main issue Mark Knight is highlighting:

Who is portrayed in the cartoon?

How are they portrayed?

What is the humour in the drawing?

Who might agree with his viewpoint?

Who might disagree or possibly be offended by this viewpoint?

Do you think he makes a good point? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Write a response to this cartoon from the viewpoint of one of the people or objects portrayed in the cartoon. Think, what would be their response to the speech bubble and satire from the cartoon.

Write or draw your response below.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.