Exclusive | Mamdani is thin-skinned and hyper-sensitive in private despite unflappable social media image: political sources
He’s a real prima-dani.Social media-savvy Mayor Zohran Mamdani is developing a reputation IRL as “thin-skinned” and hyper-sensitive to public criticism, despite hyping himself online as a smiling and unflappable politician, scores of insiders spilled to The Post.Behind the scenes, Hizzoner huffily badgers critics who dare question him publicly, harbors petty grudges against prominent pols and often only responds to texts when he’s miffed about bad press, according to interviews with more than a dozen elected officials, consultants and other politicos.“I see more and more he cannot handle criticism, but mainly from elected officials who he thinks he can push around,” one political consultant said.“The mayor personally reaches out when electeds criticizes him publicly.If they speak, then he cares.
He cares because he doesn’t want bad press.It shows a sensitivity.”The insiders who spoke with The Post about Mamdani asked to remain anonymous to avoid crossing a touchy mayor with whom they must deal over matters of governance and politics.His reputed simmering irritation recently boiled over after city Jewish leaders called on him to “stop fanning the flames of hatred” against Israel in the wake of an alleged antisemitic stabbing attack on the Upper West Side.Sources said the mayor personally called at least one elected official who attended the news conference, complaining about being told to tone down his rhetoric — and upset that their exhortation was connected to his video branding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” which was posted days before the attack.The controversial two-minute clip, delivered direct-to-camera by a sober Mamdani sitting at a desk in front of the US and New York City flags, garnered an incredible 100 million views across social media platforms.
His mastery of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where he now, respectively, has 3.5 million and 11.9 million followers, largely fu...