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Jon Stewart presses Mamdani on where he breaks with fellow democratic socialists on prisons and borders
By Alexander Hall
Published July 22, 2026
Talk show host Jon Stewart asked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani where he disagrees with fellow democratic socialists who are rising in the Democratic Party during Wednesday's episode of his podcast, "The Weekly Show."
Stewart, who has long been a fixture of centrist Democratic Party politics, noted on his show that times have changed in that "now democratic socialism is considered the hottest trend in the Democratic Party, and there's grassroots energy and all. And these democratic socialist candidates are popping up, and you're having to answer for every one of their policy positions.
"Look, maybe I'm an old man or a s--- lib or whatever they want to call me," Stewart said. "If someone says we're going to abolish all prisons and borders, like I do go, ‘I don't think that's a good idea.’
"Like, it feels like order and security is also a progressive value. Why shouldn't people in neighborhoods with less resources have the same safety and security that neighborhoods with lots of resources?"
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Months after being inaugurated, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been credited with ushering in a new wave of democratic socialists behind him. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
He then proceeded to ask Mamdani, "So are there tenets of those that are kind of following in the wake of Zohran Mamdani's success that you're not comfortable with or that give you pause?"
Mamdani replied, "If you have more than one socialist in a room and there isn't disagreement, then you don't have more than one socialist in a room."
Mamdani went on to say he is comfortable with such discussions, so long as they are productive.
"Well, I'm comfortable with disagreement, and I'm comfortable with disagreement that doesn't end the conversation entirely because I think what motivates a lot of people is, ‘How do you deliver public safety?" Mamdani said.
"And the thing that I've said time and again is, ‘We cannot have New Yorkers choose between safety and justice.’
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Comedy Central host Jon Stewart asked NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to tell him where he disagrees with fellow democratic socialists. (Phillip Faraone/Getty)
"And, yes, I am, you know, doing the work with our police department, and we have been able to deliver the lowest number of murders and shootings in recorded history," Mamdani touted. "And, at the same time, I'm doing the work to close down Riker's Island and ensure that we are actually building the four smaller borough-based jails that brings an end to a horrible chapter in New York City history."
Mamdani went on to agree that one’s safety should not depend on how upscale their neighborhood is.
"I think, to your point, you know, when we're thinking about safety, there cannot be a hierarchy of safety where you experience it more or less depending on where you live in our city or how much money is in your pocket," Mamdani said.
"And there also can't be a definition of safety that is purely after the fact, meaning how you respond to violence. We also have to do the work of investing so that we prevent violence."
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani noted, "The thing that I've said time and again is we cannot have New Yorkers choose between safety and justice." (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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