What did Van Jones say about Zohran Mamdani's victory speech? Charlamagne tha God tells CNN host to "shut the F up forever"

Charlamagne tha God reacted to Van Jones' remarks about Zohran Mamdani's speech after he won the mayoral elections in New York City. Shortly after the win, Jones claimed that Mamdani was not as "calm" and "embracing" as he was during the campaign. Jones further claimed that Mamdani had a "little bit of a character switch."

This prompted Charlamagne tha God to respond, where he said,

"Van, shut the F up forever, OK? There was no opportunity missed, the man just won, all right? Like he just won. After you won, yes, you're gonna celebrate. Yes, you're going to talk loud. What do you mean he wasn't warm enough?"

Zohran Mamdani made references to people from different communities, such as the single mothers, immigrants, Black women, and transgenders, who reportedly were "fired from a federal job." Mamdani addressed them and declared that "your struggle is ours too." Charlamagne referred to this and wondered how any of what Mamdani said could be "divisive."

He further highlighted that Mamdani spoke about all the races in his speech. Charlamagne tha God additionally said,

"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."

He even wondered how Van Jones could be worried by someone "challenging capitalism and authoritarian strategy."

What was Van Jones' take about mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after he delivered his victory speech?

Van Jones believed that Zohran Mamdani's character switched a little from how he was during the campaign to winning the election. The CNN commentator further added that Mamdani "missed an opportunity" by not having a calmer tone. Jones said,

"I think the Mamdani that we saw on the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present in that speech."

Jones further claimed that there were many people who were possibly skeptical about "getting on this train with him." According to Van Jones, Mamdani did not seem very "warm," like he was during his campaign trail. Jones then said,

"I wouldn't write him off, but I think he missed an opportunity to open himself up tonight, and I think that that will probably cost him going forward."

The remarks later led to Jones being criticized by Charlamagne tha God. Charlamagne later turned to former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan and asked him about any possible reason that made Jones feel that Mamdani's speech was "divisive." In his response, Hasan said that it was tough to understand Jones' mindset but recalled this one time when Jones praised Trump's first speech before a Joint Session of Congress in 2017.

According to Hasan, if Jones believed that Trump delivered "unifying" speeches and Mamdani's speech was "divisive," it just reflected on the commentator's mindset.

Zohran Mamdani has become the first Muslim mayor of New York City, and he will officially take office on January 1, 2026.