New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is launching his own streaming series on Twitch, marking his latest effort to use social media to propel his agenda.
Mamdani’s first show is set to go live on Thursday at 4:10 p.m. The mayor teased his “Talk With the People” series in posts to social media, and they have already been compared to the 21st-century version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famed “fireside chats” on the radio. The show will be native to Twitch but will also be available live on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, according to Polygon.
“With the launch of ‘Talk with the People,’ we’re bringing City Hall to the platforms where New Yorkers already are — speaking directly with the people,” Mamdani said. “By launching the country’s first recurring cross-platform stream hosted by an elected official, where I’ll answer New Yorkers’ questions live on Twitch, we’re opening up a direct line of conversation between our government and the people, especially younger generations who’ve been ignored for too long.”
Twitch is a popular live-streaming platform that initially gained traction as a hub for gamers, but has since become widely used by content creators for other purposes, including politics.
Mamdani’s new show comes after he notably harnessed social media to drive home a sweeping victory in last year’s mayoral race, making him the first socialist to sit in City Hall. Mamdani’s active presence on social media proved especially valuable in targeting young people, as his campaign released a stream of videos focused on affordability, a top issue for the voting bloc.
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He made dozens of appearances on podcasts, interviewed New Yorkers in front of Madison Square Garden about the cost of living during a Knicks playoff game, and racked up nearly a million views in just one video of him jumping into the frigid Atlantic Ocean to highlight his proposal about freezing rent for New Yorkers.
“I thought I needed more experience,” State Sen. Jessica Ramos, one of his rivals in the mayoral primary, said during a debate last fall. “But turns out you just need to make good videos.”