Vermont’s Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders swore in Zohran Mamdani, the new Democratic mayor of New York City, during Mamdani’s inauguration on Thursday.
Mamdani was officially sworn in at midnight New Year’s Day by New York Attorney General Letitia James. But for his public inauguration ceremony later that day, the mayor chose Sanders to administer his oath of office a second time in a ceremonial capacity.
“You showed the world the most important lesson that can be learned today — and that is that when working people stand together, when we don’t let them divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish,” Sanders told Mamdani in a speech before the swearing-in, in front of tens of thousands of people gathered outside New York City Hall.
Both Sanders and Mamdani are self-described Democratic socialists and are at the forefront of national progressive politics. New York’s Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another progressive leader, also spoke at the event. Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn, had endorsed Mamdani’s bid for mayor and campaigned with him last year.
Mamdani has called Sanders “the single most influential political figure in my life.” Sanders told VTDigger last fall that Mamdani’s campaign studied the senator’s 1981 run for Burlington mayor, when Sanders upset a more moderate opponent who’d held elected office for years.
In November’s mayoral election, Mamdani bested former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent after Mamdani defeated him and a field of other opponents in a shock victory in the summertime Democratic primary.
In his speech before swearing in Mamdani, Sanders described the mayor’s signature campaign proposals as “not radical,” even as the mayor’s opponents have assailed them as such. Mamdani has called for raising taxes on New York City’s wealthiest residents to fund universal child care and city buses that are faster and fare-free. He also wants to freeze rent increases for millions of tenants in rent-stabilized housing.
Sanders said Mamdani’s campaign had a seismic impact on national politics “in a moment when people in America, and in fact, throughout the world, are losing faith in democracy.”
“Thank you for inspiring our nation,” he said. “Thank you for giving us, from coast to coast, the hope and the vision that we can create government that works for all — not just the wealthy and the few.
According to the New York Times, Mamdani’s supporters “defied freezing temperatures” and “a fresh coating of snow” to witness the mayor’s inauguration. While Sanders was bundled in a large green coat for the ceremony, he skipped the mittens — sewn by Essex Junction resident Jen Ellis — that he went viral for wearing to former President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
