Radio host Charlamagne tha God told CNN host Van Jones to shut up on Wednesday, after he criticized Mamdani's divisive victory speech in New York City.
Jones accused Mamdani of a “character switch,” arguing that he missed an opportunity to bring more New Yorkers into his tent. Mamdani roared into his microphone following his victory, vowing never to utter his competitor Andrew Cuomo’s name again, blasting President Trump and promising that the city that gave rise to him would be the one to defeat him, threatening landlords, and doubling down on his support for immigrants.
"I think he missed a chance tonight to open up and bring more people into the tent," Jones said on election night. "I think his tone was sharp. I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling. And that's not the Mamdani that we've seen on TikTok and the great interviews and stuff like that, so I felt like there was a little bit of a character switch here where the warm, open, embracing guy that's close to working people was not on stage tonight, and there was some other voice on stage."
CNN's Van Jones was not a fan of Zohran Mamdani's angry, far-left, rage-filled victory speech:
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 5, 2025
"I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present… pic.twitter.com/aM2AlcgM1U
Charlamagne torched Jones for that comment.
"Man, shut the F up forever, Okay? Damn. There was no opportunity missed. The man just won. Alright? He just won. After you won, yes, you're going to celebrate. Yes, you're going to talk loud," Charlamagne said. "What do you mean he wasn't warm enough? He took a victory lap, and he deserved to take a victory lap because he won. I just don't understand how in the era of Trump, we're still telling people how to talk. The language of politics is dead, and Donald Trump killed it. And you know when you can really talk that talk? After you win."
Charlamagne Tha God crowns CNN's Van Jones "donkey of the day" over his criticism of Zohran Mamdani's victory speech.
— Zachary Leeman (@WritingLeeman) November 5, 2025
"Van, shut the F up forever." https://t.co/O97Ay3Ge9d pic.twitter.com/e4UfbBQpyh
He went on to argue that there was nothing divisive in Mamdani's victory speech.
"The reason a lot of things don't change in this country is because you don't have enough politicians that are willing to challenge capitalism, and Zohran is doing that. So, how can Van Jones be mad that someone is challenging capitalism and authoritarian strategy?" Charlamagne said.
His co-host, MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan, chimed in: "So Van Jones thinks that Donald Trump gives unifying speeches that make him president, but thinks Zohran Mamdani, who's united a multi-racial, multicultural, multi-income coalition, is divisive? That tells you more about Van Jones than it does tell you about Zohran Mamdani."