Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Immigrant Lights Into ‘Phony’ Zohran Mamdani For ‘Fake’ Ugandan Accent

Screenshot/YouTube/2WAY

An immigrant caller expressed outrage on “The Morning Meeting” Tuesday over what he called Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s phoniness.

A viral video posted to X on Saturday appeared to show Mamdani speaking with a Ugandan accent. The caller argued on the 2WAY show that the accent, coupled with Mamdani eating rice with his hands, showed how inauthentic the candidate is.

WATCH:

“My family and I, we came to the U.S. when I was seven years old. As you can hear, I have a perfect American accent, as does Zohran Mamdani. And then the other day, I heard him speak in this Ugandan accent,” the caller said. “And where did that come from? Just this weird little thing I’d like to point out — that controversy that when he was eating rice with his hands — that’s actually very common in the Philippines, but it’s only poor Filipinos who do it. A well-to-do Filipino would not be caught dead eating rice with his hands.”

“Upper-class Zohran Mamdani eating with his hands and that fake Ugandan accent is the phoniest thing I’ve ever seen. And it just makes my head explode,” he continued. “Even more than the free buses and free this and free that, what makes my head explode is the guy is so phony and nobody cares!”

Mamdani moved to New York City from Uganda at seven years old, according to his official biography.

Over the years, Democrats have appeared to pander to different audiences by adjusting their accents, particularly while on the campaign trail.

For instance, Bloomberg posted a video in 2015 calling out former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her accent changes over the years.

Moreover, former Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly faced criticism during her 2024 presidential campaign for switching accents depending on her audience.

At a Detroit campaign rally in September 2024, Harris said, “the brothers and sister of labor,” before saying, “You better thank a union member” with a different accent than she typically employs. That same month, while speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference, the former vice president seemed to mimic a Hispanic accent while saying, “I love you back.”

Furthermore, Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas have also been accused of accent pandering to their audiences. In April, Ocasio-Cortez was called out for appearing to slip into a Hispanic accent while speaking at a “Fight the Oligarchy” rally.

Mamdani was leading the New York City mayoral race by over 14 points ahead of Tuesday’s election, according to RealClearPolitics. He ran on a platform of hiking taxes on wealthy New Yorkers, rent freezes, free buses and city-owned grocery stores.