Meet the Press\u00a0moderator Kristen Welker questioned New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) on whether his faith in democratic socialism has been shaken at all, now that his city is facing a $5.4 billion budget shortfall.<\/p>\n
Despite that hefty challenge, the mayor told Welker he hasn\u2019t lost an ounce of faith in his ideology during his Sunday interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that you\u2019ve bumped up against the hard realities of a $5.4 billion budget shortfall and the other red tape that you have to go through, do you still believe in democratic socialism? Do you still think it can be effective?\u201d Welker asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in it even more than I did the day before,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s because of the fact it\u2019s focused on the needs of working people, and working people need that focus, that fight from politicians, more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their conversation ended there. Welker had asked him a moment earlier, in a question only seen in the extended MTP interview on YouTube<\/a>, how he would define democratic socialism.<\/p>\n Here is Mamdani\u2019s full answer:<\/p>\n It is the belief that democracy should extend from the ballot box to the rest of our lives. It\u2019s the belief that we should be fighting for each and every person who calls the city home.<\/p>\n And in a practical sense, it\u2019s the choice to not only deliver the first steps to universal childcare, but to do it while filling in 102,000 potholes, changing 6,700 catch basins, repaving more than 1,000 miles of roadway. Because what we known in our pothole politics and our sewer socialism is that the worth of an ideology can only be judged in its delivery, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking to do. We\u2019re looking to deliver.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s interview comes a day after he was seen singing \u201cWheels on the Bus\u201d<\/a> alongside ex-President Barack Obama during a press event at a Bronx child care center. The mayor and the former commander-in-chief did not take questions from the press after the event.<\/p>\n Watch above via NBC.<\/p>\n