'He is the future of...': Did Elon Musk praise Zohran Mamdani amid NY mayoral polls? Here's the TRUTH

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday (Oct 27) praised Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in New York City's mayoral polls, calling him the "future" of the Democratic Party in the US. It is pertinent to note that Mamdani is a critic of US President Donald Trump and Musk was a staunch Trump ally, who has recently parted ways from the US president. Trump had earlier called Mamdani a "100 per cent communist lunatic." Trump has also claimed in the past that Mamdani “looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he's not very smart.”

Taking to X, Musk shared a clip of New York Governor Kathy Hochul endorsing Mamdani's candidacy and wrote, "Zohran is the future of the Democratic Party". However, this may not be Musk's endorsement of Mamdani, as he is a Republican. Musk, who is known for his humour seemed to be sarcastic, as he shared another post stating that Mamdani has supported policies such as higher taxes on wealthier white neighborhoods, defunding the police, limiting police response to domestic violence, cutting gifted education programs, and closing Rikers Island prison.

Apart from Kathy Hochul, Mamdani received the backing from US Senator Bernie Sanders, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, US Representative Jerrold Nadler, who represents Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

In-person voting begun on Saturday and is continuing for one of the most closely followed US elections this year — the New York City mayoral race. New Yorkers started casting their votes for Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent.

Meanwhile, ahead of the voting, in an emotional speech Mamdani slammed his opponents for “racist" attacks and defended his Muslim faith. Pledging to further embrace his Muslim identity, Mamdani spoke about the “indignities” long faced by the city’s Muslim population. He was encircled by faith leaders outside a Bronx mosque where he mentioned that he was advised to keep his faith to himself when he entered politics. Holding back his tears and in a choking voice, Mamdani shared about his aunt “who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.” He was targeted for his remarks by many in Republican Party including Vice President JD Vance.