Linda Briggs

Something has felt off with Mamdani for a while. I just couldn’t name it. A lot of people say he is just an actor and everything you see is just an act. I never bought into that. I always thought he came off as sincere, kind and genuinely charismatic. That all changed with the Netanyahu arrest video. There was something dark in it. I wrote about it at the time. The post went viral because a lot of people felt the same thing and didn’t have the words for it. That feeling never left me. Every time I see him now, it’s there. And now we have the clip of him and AOC laughing while the names of the murdered were being read at the 9/11 memorial. People are saying it’s inappropriate, disrespectful. True, but it’s more than that. I want you to imagine yourself in that moment. If you loved this country—if you understood what that day was, what those names meant, what was taken from the people standing around you—you would not have been capable of smiling. You wouldn’t have been able to laugh. Your soul wouldn’t have let you. That clip—this stillshot— is a window into who they are. They do not love the America you love. They see America as the problem. And they are not trying to fix it. They are seeking revenge. You’re starting to see this too, right? I couldn’t name the feeling I had before, or why I had it. I just felt off. But now I understand. And I’m sure you do too.