Opinion

DAVID MARCUS: Mamdani's faux African accent as telling as it is bizarre

The New York City mayor used an African/South Asian accent throughout an interview promoting a Disney movie he worked on

By David Marcus Fox News

Published August 8, 2026 11:42am EDT

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Resurfaced Mamdani clip sparks conservative backlash over accent

A 2016 radio interview promoting his mother's Disney film, Queen of Katwe, resurfaced recently, prompting a wave of criticism on social media. (Credit: YouTube/Kaya 959 - Oct.14, 2016)

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In a resurfaced 2016 interview, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks for the entire time in an African/South Asian accent that sounds like a mix between Trevor Noah and Apu from "The Simpsons." It is absolutely bizarre, but it is also telling.

At the time, he was promoting a Disney movie that he had worked on as a dance adviser, one of the few actual jobs hizzoner has ever held. His signature smile is on display, but when he opens his lips he sounds like someone we have never heard.

With his sing-songy affected voice he decries how in Africa everybody dances, but in New York the men "just grind," but don’t dance. It is a performance entirely in character, he even imitates some Bollywood-style dance moves.

FLASHBACK: MAMDANI'S HISTORY OF DODGING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHERE HE STANDS ON KEY ISSUES

This is not Hillary Clinton’s voice getting a bit twangly........

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