Hannity’s Post-Election Meltdown: ‘Scared and Depressed’ Over Mamdani’s NYC Triumph – The ‘Mamdani Effect’ Sparks Exodus Fears
By Jordan Hale, Political Reporter November 8, 2025
NEW YORK — As confetti rained down on Zohran Mamdani’s victory party in Brooklyn’s Paramount Theatre Tuesday night, the 34-year-old democratic socialist etched his name into history as New York City’s first Muslim and immigrant mayor—securing 50.4% of the vote in a ranked-choice rout over independent ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (41.6%) and Republican Curtis Sliwa (7.9%). The win, fueled by record turnout—147,000 votes, a 20% surge from 2021—crowned Mamdani’s underdog campaign on promises of rent freezes, fare-free transit, and taxing the rich to fund universal childcare. But while progressives toasted a “mandate for change,” Fox News firebrand Sean Hannity channeled the right’s raw panic, lamenting that his New York pals were “officially depressed and scared” over the outcome—a sentiment he dubbed the “Mamdani effect.”
Hannity’s unfiltered freakout aired live during Fox’s election night coverage, minutes after the network projected Mamdani’s win. “And I honestly feel bad,” the host croaked, his voice cracking with uncharacteristic vulnerability. “I have friends of mine in New York. My phone is blowing up. They are officially depressed and scared… Before today, they said if he got elected, they are gonna leave New York City.” Citing a Siena College poll from late October showing 9% of New Yorkers mulling an exit under Mamdani, Hannity coined the “Mamdani effect” as shorthand for the exodus he predicted would accelerate—echoing his pre-election warnings of a “mass migration” to the “Free State of Florida,” where he’d relocated in 2020. “How does someone that radicalized win an election?” he thundered, invoking post-9/11 anxieties and Mamdani’s pro-Palestine activism as harbingers of urban doom.
The remarks, first flagged by Mediaite, struck a chord—and a nerve—in a city already cleaved by culture wars. Hannity, who’d spent weeks on his prime-time perch demonizing Mamdani as a “communist radical” whose DSA ties would “ruin life in America’s largest city,” now pivoted to paternal pity. His Florida pitch? A siren call to the disaffected: “Come on down—before it’s too late.” By Friday, he’d crooned a Sinatra parody—”New York, New York”—at the Fox Nation Patriot Awards, twisting the anthem into a dirge for the Big Apple: “Start spreadin’ the news… I’m leavin’ today.”
Conservative media piled on, framing Mamdani’s ascent—born in Uganda to Indian parents, raised in NYC—as a litmus test for “woke urban decay.” The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board warned of a “socialist menace,” while President Trump, in a Mar-a-Lago gaggle, sniped that the win “cements the Democrat Party’s transformation to a radical, big-government socialist party.” House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed on X: “The consequences will be felt nationwide.” NPR reported Wall Street’s $40 million anti-Mamdani blitz flopped spectacularly, with billionaires now “reckoning” with a mayor vowing to “tax the rich” for universal pre-K.
Critics, including Jewish New Yorkers, decried the rhetoric as veering into Islamophobia. CNN highlighted a “deep schism” among the city’s 1.1 million Jews: Progressives like Jews for Racial & Economic Justice cheered “Mazel Tov,” but others fretted Mamdani’s Gaza advocacy as a “threat” to safety amid rising antisemitism. Sen. Chuck Schumer, mum on his vote, congratulated Mamdani but skipped endorsement. In Israel, the win “evoked intense reaction,” with officials lamenting it as a “wake-up call” on U.S. leftward drift.
X erupted in a partisan piñata. #MamdaniEffect trended with 280,000 posts: MAGA memes of Hannity “snowflaking” (“Crying over a mayor? Weak!”) clashed with liberal schadenfreude (“Hannity’s tears = our joy!”). Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) mocked: “Fox propagandist… lost his shit… What a little chode,” (41K views). @hippyygoat hailed it a “Free Palestine” win (27K views), while @PosobiecJa76200 quipped Hannity’s “good news” was sardonic. HuffPost’s clip of Hannity’s lament hit 10K views, spawning replies like “LMAO… the right wing melt down.”
Politically incorrect truth: Hannity’s “scared” sob story isn’t empathy—it’s elite exile porn for viewers dreaming of Florida condos while NYC’s working stiffs cheer cheaper subways. Mamdani’s not a “radicalized” bogeyman; he’s the kid gloves off, taxing the Hannitys who’ve fleeced the five boroughs for decades. The 9% exodus? Good riddance—let the whiners wave goodbye from the Verrazzano. New York’s dawn is brighter without the doomsayers; socialism’s shadow? Nah, it’s the sunrise of accountability. As Mamdani quipped: “This city belongs to you”—not the fearmongers on Fox.
