While all the late night hosts rejoiced on their Wednesday shows over Democrats’ Tuesday election victories, the eponymous hosts of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers were especially eager to promote socialist Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral victory.
Colbert began his ode to Mamdani by hyping the defeat of his billionaire critics, “If you've been following the election, the billionaires had the knives out for Zohran, pumping massive amounts of cash into anti-Mamdani groups. I'm talking big-roll high rollers like cosmetics heir Ron Lauder, who donated $2.16 million to stop him; hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, who donated $1.75 million against them; and co-founder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia, who donated $2 million to defeat Mamdani. So it's a bad day for billionaires or, as it's also known, still a pretty good day. They’re still billionaires. Things don't really go bad for them.”
Well, not all billionaires. Alex Soros aside, Colbert rolled on, “Mamdani didn't just beat him. He murder-ized them, winning over 50 percent of the vote in an election with the most votes cast since 1969. Nice. Nice.”
Later, Colbert teed up a clip of Mamdani’s victory speech by declaring he “had some especially defiant words about the people targeted by Trump and ICE.”
In the clip, Mamdani yelled, “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant!”
Colbert was in love, “Is this true? Is this true? I'm being told just now that they’ve already changed the poem on the Statue of Liberty: "I'm not crying, you're crying."
Meanwhile, over at ABC, Kimmel was eager to use Mamdani’s victory to engage in one of his favorite traditions: calling Republicans racist. He huffed, “It's a day after Election Day. You know, there were elections in 39 states yesterday. It was a big night for Democrats, who let's be honest—I’m glad it was because we needed a big night. Democrats have had fewer wins this year than the Jets, and so the Democrats won everything. They won big races on the East Coast, they won the little ones in the South and New York City, Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor with more than 50 percent of the vote. Which means your racist aunt and uncle have a new name to mispronounce this Thanksgiving.”
Finally, there was perhaps the biggest Mamdani fan of them all: Seth Meyers. After a clip of an Andrew Cuomo voter conceding she wasn’t thrilled to be voting for him, Meyers retorted, “But that clip right there explains everything. Andrew Cuomo lost because even the people who voted for him did so reluctantly. The winner, Zohran Mamdani assembled a coalition of supporters who were actually excited to vote for him.”
Following a clip montage, Meyers reiterated, “I mean, look at the excitement in that crowd. This is the kind of energy Democrats have been desperately seeking for years.”
Later, Meyers continued his crusade against the Democratic Party’s relative moderates by claiming, “And by the way, Republicans weren't the only ones who lost last night. Centrist Democrats who refused to endorse Mamdani even after he won the Democratic primary clearly miscalculated the extent of his appeal.”
After a video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer refusing to say who he voted for, Meyers lamented, “You're the Democratic leader, and you won't even say you voted for the Democratic nominee. Why are you treating it like a secret? You're talking about who you voted for the way the colonel talks about his recipe for—”
Meyers’s sentence was punctuated by another clip of Schumer saying “Kentucky Fried French fries.”
Sure, Mamdani’s voters actually liked him, but that was because he was equivalent to the kid who runs for student government promising all-day recess. For years, liberals like Meyers have demanded that Republicans stand up to President Trump, but when a Marxist radical who has a history of terrorist apologia runs for mayor, he demands Democrats fall in line behind the party’s nominee.
Here are transcripts for the November 5-taped shows:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
11/5/2025
11:38 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: If you've been following the election, the billionaires had the knives out for Zohran, pumping massive amounts of cash into anti-Mamdani groups. I'm talking big-roll high rollers like cosmetics heir Ron Lauder, who donated $2.16 million to stop him; hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, who donated $1.75 million against them; and co-founder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia, who donated $2 million to defeat Mamdani.
So it's a bad day for billionaires or, as it’s also known, still a pretty good day. They’re still billionaires. Things don't really go bad for them. Mamdani didn't just beat him. He murder-ized them, winning over 50 percent of the vote in an election with the most votes cast since 1969. Nice. Nice.
…
COLBERT: Mamdani had some especially defiant words about the people targeted by Trump and ICE.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant!
COLBERT: Is this true? Is this true? I'm being told just now that they’ve already changed the poem on the Statue of Liberty: "I'm not crying, you're crying."
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
11/5/2025
11:36 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: It's a day after Election Day. You know, there were elections in 39 states yesterday. It was a big night for Democrats, who let's be honest—I’m glad it was because we needed a big night. Democrats have had fewer wins this year than the Jets, and so the Democrats won everything. They won big races on the East Coast, they won the little ones in the South and New York City, Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor with more than 50 percent of the vote. Which means your racist aunt and uncle have a new name to mispronounce this Thanksgiving.
***
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
11/6/2025
12:49 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: But that clip right there explains everything. Andrew Cuomo lost because even the people who voted for him did so reluctantly. The winner, Zohran Mamdani assembled a coalition of supporters who were actually excited to vote for him.
ALICIA MENENDEZ: Tonight, 34-year-old state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani toppled a New York political dynasty, becoming the first New York City mayoral candidate since 1969 to earn more than a million votes.
SARA SIDNER: He didn't just win his race. He won it decisively. Exit polls showing he got more than 50 percent of the vote.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: On January 1st, I will be sworn in as the mayor of New York City.
MEYERS: I mean, look at the excitement in that crowd. This is the kind of energy Democrats have been desperately seeking for years. I haven't seen a crowd of New Yorkers this excited since the time the real Timothee Chalamet stopped at a Timothee Chalamet look-alike contest in Manhattan and the craziest part is, after he showed up, he still came in third behind two other guys who look more like Chalamet than the actual Chalamet.
…
MEYERS: And by the way, Republicans weren't the only ones who lost last night. Centrist Democrats who refused to endorse Mamdani even after he won the Democratic primary clearly miscalculated the extent of his appeal.
REPORTER: Today is Election Day in New York City. Did you vote for Mamdani or Cuomo?
CHUCK SCHUMER [11/4]: Look, I voted and look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.
MEYERS: You're the Democratic leader, and you won't even say you voted for the Democratic nominee. Why are you treating it like a secret? You're talking about who you voted for the way the colonel talks about his recipe for—
SCHUMER [11/3]: Kentucky Fried French fries.
