Bill Maher STUNNED Mamdani With ONE Question — And Watched Him Fall Apart On Air

In January 2026, one of the most recognizable liberal voices in American television devoted part of an HBO monologue not to defending New York's new mayor, but to categorizing him — and the distance between that broadcast and his November commentary, which was framed purely around electoral strategy, is what this video sets out to explain. We trace the ten weeks in between: Zohran Mamdani's inauguration, his first round of appointments, and a first-half record he can legitimately stand on, including declining crime figures, a rent freeze on regulated apartments, concessions won in Albany, and a budget delivered before deadline. We also read the polling honestly, including the gap between residents who say the city is finally moving in the right direction and the 59 percent of registered voters who told Emerson College it was on the wrong track. The deeper story is fiscal, and it does not stay inside the five boroughs. Facing a $5.4 billion gap against a proposed $127 billion budget — more than double what Pennsylvania spends governing thirteen million people — the mayor proposed income and corporate tax increases a New York City mayor has no authority to enact, and paired them with an alternative: a 9.5 percent property tax increase and a drawdown of city reserves. We examine what it means when a levy that lands on homeowners becomes leverage against a governor from the same party, why Kathy Hochul refused twice, why Democratic majorities in both state chambers filed counterproposals against her anyway, and how property tax increases historically pass through to renters. What emerges is less a story about one mayor than about a governing coalition negotiating with itself in public. Turn on notifications to stay updated! 🔔🔔🔔