That was fast — we went from “everything should be free” to “give me four million dollars” in record time!
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is asking supporters for cash as he prepares to take office, telling backers that his transition isn’t covered by public matching funds.
“I hope very soon not to have to ask you for money. But until then, I’m askin’ for you to go to transition2025.com, give whatever you can …” Mamdani said in a video posted Tuesday.
He explained that transition work falls outside the city’s matching-funds system used during campaigns.
“Now unlike the campaign, transitions do not get public matching funds from the city. So that eight-to-one match: gone. It’s up to us to raise the money. Usually campaigns take that as an opportunity to rely on wealthy donors, but that’s not us,” he said.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, said his team needs “$4 million in total, so Jan. 1 can be the day we start to deliver, not start to prepare.”
Figures displayed in the video showed more than $1 million raised as of Nov. 14, with an average donation of $77.65 across 12,707 donors.
He went on to explain why the money is needed: “We have to vet the 50,000 resumes we’ve received,” he said. “We have to keep paying our incredible team. And we have to plan not just our inauguration, but our policy implementation.”
This won’t be the last time he shakes down New Yorkers for cash.
Watch the video above.
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