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Please help me Zohran, my name is in the Epstein files! (hexbear.net)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by to c/slop@hexbear.net
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Donald is absolutely smitten with Zohran! I can't believe what I'm watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptzw8efnogo

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[–] 63 points 9 months ago* (6 children)

Real talk though, here's my initial assumptions about what could've gone down here:

  1. Zohran capitulated on a bunch of stuff, promised that he won't rock the boat much and will slow down now he won the election
  2. Trump really does just trust the last person he talked with, and Zohran did a good job of just appearing like a smart and polite guy to get on Trump's good side
  3. The mere fact that Zohran spoke English fluently, used honorifics, and obviously wasn't a jihadist caught Trump off guard.
  4. Trump is in a weak spot right now because of all the bad press and he's desperate to leech off some good will from someone who is much more popular (i.e. the title of this post)

I initially was writing these as separate possibilities but now that I read them over, I think the most likely explanation is that some part of all 4 of these is true and that's why they were so unexpectedly conciliatory.

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  • [–] 44 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    I'm almost certain its just that Trump is dumb and the fact that Mamdani is polite and well spoken.

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  • [–] 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    I don't think Mamdani would've booked the meeting just to be polite and not make any concessions as to protect his own interests. Maybe not full on coward mode, maybe that's too pessimistic, but I doubt it was just a playdate.

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  • [–] 25 points 9 months ago*

    I think that is overly pessimistic. Trump is not ideological, and that’s an understatement. Mamdani’s policies are objectively good for NYC - even for the rich, if they weren’t such absolute greedy pigs they could see it too. I think Mamdani just went in there and spoke like he did on the campaign and Trump was probably wowwed at what could be done for an incredibly small tax increase.

    And Mamdani has off the charts charisma. He knows how to get people to like him, I don’t think it’s that complicated.

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  • [–] 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 child)

    Trump is deeply corrupt. He cares a lot about his own wealth, image and brand and and very little about Christofascism or the US Imperial project.

    Mamdani is mayor of NYC, where Trump came up and is still heavily invested (Trump Tower is in NY).

    I think it's very possible that Trump sees much greater benefit in having a strong personal relationship with the overwhelmingly popular mayor of NYC than in trying to burn him down for the sake of empire, party politics or class solidarity. Getting on with each other also enhances both of their reputations' as 'political outsiders', helping distance themselves from heir deeply unpopular parties and strengthen their personal brands.

    I wouldn't have expected this at all but in hindsight this makes a surprising amount of sense from Trump's perspective and obviously Mamdani (who isn't relying on the support of never Trump Blue MAGA democrats) will benefit greatly from not being obstructed federally.

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  • [–] 22 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 child)

    My wife pointed out that, all political theater aside, Trump as corporation still has a lot of economic interest in NYC, especially real estate. So there’s a financial incentive for Trump to schmooze, set up for some favor trading to benefit him.

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago

    This is the vibe I picked up. Trump talked a lot about how he was going to address housing with new construction. Who's going to get those contracts? Either some sort of deal was made, or at least Mamdani expressed that the potential was there. That's my guess anyway.

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  • [–] 20 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    I initially was writing these as separate possibilities but now that I read them over, I think the most likely explanation is that some part of all 4 of these is true and that's why they were so unexpectedly conciliatory.

    I think that's pretty much it yeah lol

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  • [–] 18 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    not as complicated as you're making it I think. Trump likes winners and I'm sure was aware that 'if I treat Zohran nicely on camera and tell him he can call me a fascist I'll be in the news instead of Dick Cheney's damn funeral" lol

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  • [–] 11 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    my first assumption, other than Zohran Mamdani being some weird fucking fascist sleeper agent working for Trump, is that Trump is literally just trying to poison Mamdani's image for liberals

    because the dumb fucks in this country literally will base their opinions on "Trump likes him?" HATE, if liberal, LIKE, if conservative

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  • [–] 12 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    That would probably still be a net positive for Zohran, he clearly has enough direct support that he won the election so his big hurdle was gonna be all the chuds in the NYC government I think. Remains to be seen what the situation with the NYPD ends up being. Trump was bragging about the chud commissioner that he's decided to keep being connected to his family! Doesn't bode well at all.

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  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    are there a lot of chuds in NYC govt? wouldn't it be more democrats than republicans (both are chuds but the former are chuds who'd be more entrenched against Mamdani if Trump likes him)

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  • [–] 9 points 9 months ago* (1 child)

    The NYPD is a fascist military force with its own internal right wing vanguardist, explicitly white supremacist gangs (much like the LAPD). Obviously the city government as a whole is pretty much all dems but the capitalists' footsoldiers are far right.

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago

    Not that the militarized portion of the government being right wing is insignificant but still i think that means Mamdani has a lot to lose if "trump likes him? Hate" is the general liberal response, especially since i assumed they'd already be working against him (and like, doing no research i expect 80% minimum are landlords)

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