NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former President Barack Obama had their first face-to-face meeting on Saturday – even as Hizzoner tries to maintain a working relationship with President Donald Trump.
The sit-down between the socialist pol and Obama took place at a Bronx school, where they greeted local families after a private conversation, POLITICO first reported.
Mamdani’s public schedule failed to note he was meeting Obama and instead listed only that he planned to greet “children and parents” at 3:30 pm at an “early childhood education center.”
Only invited press was permitted to attend, with local network ABC-7 selected to provide pooled footage later, according to the mayor’s schedule. The Post was not included in the event.
The mayor and Obama spent about 90 minutes with roughly 20 pre-k and 3-k students at the Learning Through Play Pre-K Center on Union Avenue, reading them a book called “Alone & Together” and singing “Wheels on the Bus,” according to ABC.
Obama declined to say what he thought of Mamdani’s first 100-plus days in office.
Reps for Mamdani didn’t immediately return messages.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) said City Hall’s selective release of information is “right out of the communist dictator playbook.”
“A mayor should be welcoming coverage by the free press when doing something as big as meeting with a former president,” she said. “Instead, we’re seeing access restricted so that the party’s message is amplified and opposing voices are removed from the conversation.
“This is a slap in the face to journalists everywhere and sends a clear message: spread Dear Leader’s propaganda, or you don’t get a seat at Mamdani’s table.”
“Like so many of his campaign pledges, the mayor’s vow to bring a ‘culture of transparency’ to City Hall seems to be about as sincere as Bernie Madoff’s promise to bring windfall returns to his investors,” quipped Council Minority Leader David Carr (R-Staten Island).
“Unless he believes that walling himself off with a team of zealots and providing limited access to hand-picked reporters for propaganda pieces is fair and open government administration, he’s been about as transparent as London fog.”
Mamdani’s aides worked for months to set up the meeting, making scheduling it sooner rather than later a key priority over the past few weeks, sources told POLITICO.
Obama didn’t endorse Mamdani in last year’s mayoral race, but he reportedly called him shortly before Election Day, complimenting him for running an “impressive” campaign and offering to be a “sounding board” if he won.
Mamdani and Trump have maintained a surprisingly cordial relationship despite being miles away politically.
It’s unclear how Mamdani’s sit-down with Obama will affect that, considering Trump has called Obama a “terrible” president and the two have long had a cold relationship.
Carlyn Rahynes, the schools’ principal, told ABC-7 that meeting Mamdani and Obama was “exciting, and little overwhelming, but I was just happy for the children.”
