With the mayor-elect’s hand on his mother’s Koran, Zoram Mamdani takes the oath of office from New York native, Vermont Senator, and fellow Democratic Socialist and mentor Bernie Sanders.
The following is a transcript of Bernie Sander’s speech before he inaugurated Zoram Mamdani as mayor of New York City on January 1, 2026.
Thank you very much for inviting me to what has been an extraordinarily moving and beautiful afternoon. I’m here mostly to thank the people of New York City at a time in our country’s history when we are seeing too much hatred, too much divisiveness, and too much injustice.
Thank you for electing Zoram Mamdani as your mayor. New York, thank you for inspiring our nation. Thank you for giving us, from coast to coast, the hope and the vision that we can create a government that works for all, not just the wealthy and the few.
At a moment when people in America — and in fact throughout the world — are losing faith in democracy, over 90,000 of you in this city volunteered for Zeron’s campaign. You knocked on doors. You shared your dreams and your hopes for the future of this city. And in the process, you took on the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the President of the United States, and some enormously wealthy oligarchs — and you defeated them in the biggest political upset in modern American history.
You showed the world the most important lesson that can be learned today: that when working people stand together, when we don’t let them divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
Running a great and winning campaign was extremely difficult. But governing a city of eight million people, with all of its complexities and all of the problems that Zaron is inheriting, will be even harder. Zuron needed your help to win the election. Now he will need your help to govern. Grassroots democracy and people participating in the day-to-day struggles of this city will lead to good governance. Please remain involved.
You know, all of us have heard how Zoram Mamdani’s opponents have called the agenda he campaigned on radical — communistic — and absolutely unachievable. Really? That’s not what we believe. In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical. It is the right and decent thing to do. And in the midst of a massive housing crisis, it is exactly what the people of this city and this country want and need.
Providing free and high-quality child care is not radical. Countries all over the world have done it for years. It is what our kids require if they are going to be well prepared for school, and what working parents desperately need. It is, in fact, what every city in America should be doing.
Free bus transportation is not radical. It will save workers time and money, protect our environment, and make the city more efficient. And making sure that every family in the city, regardless of income, has access to decent-quality food at an affordable cost is not radical. Good nutrition keeps us healthy and helps prevent chronic illness. In the long run, city-sponsored grocery stores will save society money.
Lastly — and maybe most importantly — demanding that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes is not radical. It is exactly the right thing to do. Today, while over 60 percent of our people — people in New York, people in Vermont, people all over this country — are living paycheck to paycheck, we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had.
While tens of millions struggle to put food on the table, pay for health care, and pay for housing, the top 1 percent have never, ever had it so good. And yet there are billionaires and large corporations that pay almost nothing in taxes. That has got to end. And that will end.
The billionaire class in this city and in this country has got to understand that in America, they cannot have it all. That America — our great country — must belong to all of us, not just a few. And that lesson begins today in New York City.
Let me thank you all for the hope and inspiration that you are giving people all over this country. And now, it is my honor to swear in your new mayor.