Zohran Mamdani's skillful social media use propelled his mayoral primary victory and inspired imitation by other politicians. Former governor Andrew Cuomo has adopted a kitchen-sink social strategy, posting memes, replying heavily on X, and copying Mamdani's video style. Jason Levin claimed credit for Cuomo's memefication and promoted memetic warfare, calling it a golden age of meme'fied politics. Governor Gavin Newsom has mimicked Donald Trump on an X account and launched an elaborate trolling campaign. Both Cuomo and Newsom appear focused on attention-grabbing mimicry and memes rather than a coherent, broader campaign strategy.
According to Sun Tzu, in order to know your enemy, you must become your enemy. Some politicians might be taking that advice a little too literally, though. Zohran Mamdani's notably deft use of social media helped lead his well-run mayoral primary campaign to victory in June-and it may have inspired some recent pivots from other politicos. Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo is now taking a kitchen-sink approach to replicating his mayoral opponent's social media magic,
while California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken to mimicking Donald Trump in an ongoing performance art piece on one of his X accounts. Neither seems to have a broader strategy beyond capturing attention. Memes and mimicking online Fresh off of copying Mamdani's distinct video style upon reentering the mayoral race as an Independent, Cuomo is now trying to flex his own social media fluency, with memes and a reply-heavy X account.
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