New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani went on a comedian's podcast this week and called the sitting Prime Minister of Israel 'the architect of a horrific genocide.' The podcaster's response was 'F–k yeah.' This is where American municipal politics lives now.
What Mamdani Actually Said
The interview aired Thursday on Theo Von's 'This Past Weekend' podcast. The New York Post reports that Mamdani told Von the United States should join the International Criminal Court and enforce its arrest warrants universally, including the one issued against Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
"If I had my say, the US government would have joined the ICC and honored every single warrant that they've issued," Mamdani said. He then went further, describing Netanyahu directly: "When you ask about the prime minister, we're talking about the architect of a horrific genocide."
This is not a slip or a hot mic moment. Mamdani said it clearly, on purpose, to an audience of millions, and the host cheered him on. Whatever you think of the underlying politics, the mayor of New York City is now doing foreign policy commentary on a stand-up comedian's podcast. That's the world.
The Part Where He Has No Actual Power to Do Any of This
Here's the thing that makes this whole episode so strange. Mamdani already went through this exact exercise earlier this year. During his mayoral campaign, he famously vowed to have Netanyahu arrested if the Israeli prime minister ever set foot in New York City. Then he actually won the race, reviewed the legal options, and discovered what lawyers could have told him before he made the promise: there are none.
The New York Post reports that Mamdani backed down in July after that review came back empty. The mayor of New York City has no authority to enforce ICC warrants. The US is not even a member of the ICC. Israel isn't either. The court, which has 124 member states, can only prosecute crimes committed by nationals of member states or on member-state territory. None of that applies here.
So when Mamdani says the US "should" join the ICC and enforce its warrants, he's not describing a policy he controls. He's describing a wish. A wish he's now sharing with Theo Von's fanbase.
Netanyahu Already Fired Back, at the UN No Less
The timing here is worth sitting with. Netanyahu was in New York City last month for the United Nations General Assembly, and according to the New York Post, he used part of his speech to tear into Mamdani directly. The Israeli prime minister claimed that Jews no longer feel safe in New York City under the mayor, called him out for describing Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide, and even criticized Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, for liking anti-Israel posts on social media.
Mamdani's response to all of that, delivered in the podcast interview, was dry enough to be almost funny. He told Von he'd been in a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands at an LGBTQ center in downtown Manhattan when Netanyahu's UN remarks landed. "And then I get back from that meeting, and it's like, 'Oh, by the way, here's what he was saying at the UN,'" he said.
"All of this is an attempt to distract from responsibility," Mamdani argued. "If I was the architect of a genocide, I would probably talk about anything but that." Credit where it's due: that's a sharp line.
Where the American Political Establishment Actually Stands
Mamdani's position puts him well outside the mainstream of American politics, and not just Republican politics. The New York Post notes that when the ICC first issued its arrest warrant against Netanyahu in 2024, officials across the political spectrum piled on to criticize the court. The Biden administration called it "shameful." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat representing New York, called it "unserious" and "troubling."
That's the baseline. The established Democratic position, including from New York's own congressional leadership, is that the ICC warrant against Netanyahu is not legitimate. Mamdani is running directly at that consensus, in public, with enthusiasm. Whether you think the consensus is right or Mamdani is right is a separate question. But nobody should pretend this is a mild or uncontroversial position within his own party.
The Dingo Take
"If I was the architect of a genocide, I would probably talk about anything but that." Sure. And if you were the mayor of America's largest city with actual governing problems piling up on your desk, you would probably talk to a comedian about international criminal law enforcement powers you do not possess and cannot acquire. Everybody's got their avoidance strategy.
Look, the substantive debate about Gaza, the ICC, and what constitutes genocide is real and serious and worth having. Mamdani is not wrong that the US applying international law selectively based on who the defendant is undermines the whole concept of international law. That's a coherent argument made by serious people. But there is something almost performance-art about a mayor who already tried and failed to arrest Netanyahu, then backed down quietly, then went on a podcast to announce he still wishes he could. The cycle of vow, retreat, and podcast is not exactly a governing strategy.
The most clarifying thing about this story is Theo Von saying "F–k yeah" to a call for US membership in the International Criminal Court. That's the Mamdani coalition in one quote: energized, uninterested in the legal details, and ready to cheer. He beat the Democratic machine to become mayor of New York City. He is not going to stop now because a few people find the podcast format undignified. The question worth asking is whether any of this moves a single policy anywhere, or whether it's just very loud theater performed for an audience that already agrees.
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