New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared for an interview with “manosphere” podcaster Theo Von, throughout which he known as for america to affix the Worldwide Prison Court docket and implement its arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“If I had my say, the U.S. authorities would have joined the ICC, honored each single warrant that they issued,” Mamdani stated close to the top of the 75-minute interview that was posted on Thursday.
“F–ok yeah,” Von replied.
The interview got here one week after Netanyahu visited the United Nations and delivered a speech throughout which he known as Mamdani an “antisemite” and a supporter of Hamas. (Mamdani has condemned Hamas as a terrorist group.)
Von, in the meantime, is a part of a rising ecosystem of everyman “manosphere” podcasters who host sprawling conversations with a wide selection of well-known friends — he has hosted Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, JD Vance and Mark Zuckerberg — and more and more are seen as representing an important sector of the voters. He drew an invitation to Trump’s inauguration in 2025 after internet hosting him on the marketing campaign path the yr earlier than.
Since then, Von has grow to be more and more essential of Israel and pressed the case in his Vance interview that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The Worldwide Court docket of Justice, which is separate from the ICC, is adjudicating expenses Israel dedicated genocide — which the nation rejects — however has not issued a ruling. Von has additionally hosted friends who’ve unfold conspiracy theories about Israel and Jews.
On the finish of his interview with Mamdani, Von thanked the New York mayor for “speaking somewhat bit in regards to the genocide” throughout their podcast, noting that “lots of people are afraid to discuss it in politics.”
“One factor I might simply say is, your curiosity is a wonderful factor,” Mamdani informed Von.
The chummy dialog was notable, arising because it did out of a gathering between an icon of the libertarian-leaning “manosphere” and a self-declared socialist.
Mamdani decried Israel’s marketing campaign in Gaza throughout their dialog.
“Individuals discuss a ceasefire — simply final week, the Israeli army killed an 11-year-old boy, Palestinian boy in Gaza, in a bit that’s thought of to be a secure zone,” he stated. “That is persevering with.”
He additionally recalled internet hosting Palestinian households at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, the place they informed him about “the ways in which their lives have been shattered.”
Von requested Mamdani how he retains individuals “from misdirecting vitality that’s in opposition to Israel in direction of their Jewish mates,” particularly because the mayor of the nation’s most Jewish metropolis.
A part of that, Mamdani stated, is being clear that “no Jewish particular person in New York Metropolis is answerable for the actions of the State of Israel. And if you wish to maintain anyone accountable, it’s the people who find themselves making these selections — the prime minister, the State of Israel, additionally our complicity as American taxpayers realizing what number of billions of {dollars} now we have despatched in bombs and proceed to ship.”
Mamdani additionally pointed to his administration’s official technique to fight antisemitism, which it launched earlier this week, as an effort to each condemn and stop antisemitism. Some teams stated the technique “failed to handle” anti-Israel rhetoric and hyperlinks between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, whereas applauding elements like safety funding boosts and Holocaust training growth.
Lastly, he added, it takes “being very clear that critique of the State of Israel, the coverage actions, the genocide — that in and of itself shouldn’t be being antisemitic.”
“Yeah, I agree, converse up about it,” Von stated.
Von, who has practically 700 podcast episodes and greater than 4.7 million YouTube subscribers, has interviewed or spoken positively about a number of controversial figures who’ve unfold conspiracy theories about Israel and Jews, together with former Fox Information character Tucker Carlson, streamer and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and commentator Candace Owens.
Throughout an episode from this previous January with comic Dave Smith, Von known as Fuentes “fascinating” and stated, “He’s f–ing courageous, dude.”
Von hosted Carlson on his present in December 2025. The 2 males spoke at size about Israel and Von criticized what he stated was an absence of transparency within the management that Israel and company pursuits have over American politics.
“If they might simply say, ‘Hey, America is a rustic that’s owned by Israel,’ or that it’s at all times been this outpost or this LLC of Israel — or perhaps not even of Israel, it may simply be of company entities, I’m not likely certain precisely — but when they might simply inform us, you possibly can function from a spot of realizing what’s happening,” Von stated.
Professional-Israel lobbies have repeatedly defended their position as no totally different than another curiosity group in search of affect, citing the successes through the years of pro-choice and anti-abortion teams, environmental teams and gun proprietor teams, amongst others.
Throughout that interview, Von additionally performed a clip of CBS Information editor-in-chief Bari Weiss calling Carlson anti-American and anti-Jewish, which elicited laughter from each Von and Carlson. Von then learn out an AI-generated overview that described Weiss as “a vocal supporter of Israel.”
“If her allegiance isn’t to America first, how is she the pinnacle of an American community?” Von stated.
“Nicely that’s after all a wholly honest query, that you just’re not allowed to ask,” Carlson replied.
Von’s dialog with Mamdani this week coated quite a lot of matters together with socialism, the achievability of the American Dream and their most popular fish.
When requested about Netanyahu’s U.N. speech, Mamdani defined that he’d been assembly with the prime minister of the Netherlands about an LGBTQ heart and the neighborhood’s historical past in New York.
“Then I get again from that assembly and it’s like, ‘Oh by the way in which, right here’s what he was saying on the U.N.’,” Mamdani stated.
“It’s so weird. Did it really feel private then?” Von requested.
Mamdani replied that “all of that is an try and distract from accountability, identify as many individuals as doable, try to make it right into a backwards and forwards.”
He added, “It’s not about me and him. It’s about the truth that he’s the architect of a genocide.”
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