Leland Vittert’s War Notes: The Mamdani Conspiracy

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 p.m. ET show, delivered straight to your inbox.

The Mamdani Conspiracy

Alert🚨: President Trump wakes up in Asia ahead of his biggest meeting in his second term — with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Watch tonight📺: NewsNation's Robert Sherman on the ground in Seoul with the White House perspective ahead of the meeting, then Bill O'Reilly joins us with whether Trump can box Xi into O'Reilly's plan of confronting Russia.
- Fair question❓: O'Reilly spent a lot of time with the Chinese earlier this year — the Chinese are masters of flattery and victimhood while promising to make big concessions.
  - In other words😶: You know they are lying when their lips are moving.
  - 🤝This is the fifth time since January that Trump thought he had a deal with Xi — it's never worked.
Intrigue🎤: Our Kellie Meyer first asked Trump about a possible detour during his Asia travels to visit "Little Rocketman," aka Kim Jong Un — with Trump saying he knows he's going there and would like to meet with him.
- Now, Trump is talking about extending his trip for just such a visit.

"Tax the Rich" 💰

🗣️At a Zohran Mamdani rally with Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the crowd began chanting, "Tax the rich".

🎤Governor of New York Kathy Hochul says she thought they were chanting "Let's go, Bills" — spare me.

Memo📝: Zohran Mamdani will likely beat Andrew Cuomo and become NYC mayor as a pro-Palestinian (Hamas-adjacent) champion of Muslim rights 24 years after 9/11 by talking about affordability — not Donald Trump.

💭Just think about that for a second as a lesson for Democrats (and Republicans).

D.C. vs reality🎤: George Will is often quoted by saying D.C. is 68 square miles surrounded by reality — the divide in the Democratic Party shows that perfectly.

D.C. Democrats🤦🏼: MSNBC, CNN, Eric Swalwell and much of the Democratic elite keep hammering away at Trump over the ballroom and his floating the idea of running again in 2028.
- 📉Their (Democratic Party) approval rating is near or below freezing.
Street fighters🏟️: Meantime, Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders filled a stadium in Queens, promising free buses, rent control and state-run grocery stores.
- Look forward⏭️: We know how the play of free stuff ends — watch this "60 Minutes" visit to Caracas, Venezuela.
🎙️"There's no stopping the momentum in NYC," says @TheDemocrats X account — about the new socialist movement. Nobody says that about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer or Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer.

True colors👀: Over the past few months, Mamdani apologists say he has moderated — a glowing New York Times profile helped.

🤦🏼‍♂️In victory (or near victory), he went right back to his socialist and intersectional talking points.
- 🤨Now, the biggest problem in NYC is Islamophobia, Mamdani posted to X: "The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated the same as any other New Yorker. And yet, for too long, we have been told to ask for less than that, and endure hatred and bigotry in the shadows."
Thought bubble💭: This must be why all the synagogues in NYC have armed security and locked doors while the mosques blast the call to prayer.

Mamdami conspiracy👂🏼: I am hearing from the Right a very good question about how this happened.

Last two years📱: Months of pro-Hamas protests —fueled by TikTok.
Now👀: TikTok is reportedly helping Mamdani.
- 🤷🏼‍♂️Kind of wild — conspiracy or coincidence?

Watch tonight📺: NewsNation's Batya Ungar-Sargon and Danny Salas on what Zohran Mamdani does next as de facto leader of the Democratic Party.

Popcorn🍿: The Wall Street Journal editorializes that all the Democrats are falling in line – but what about Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom? Each of them now must figure out how to adapt to the new reality.

Lethal Agile Ready ✅

✈️B-1 bombers returned safely from flying a mock bombing on Venezuela.

📝The X post from the US Southern Command showing Marines in close-quarter combat drills says "Lethal, agile & ready."

🛩️V22 Ospreys appear to practice coastal assault and invasion tactics in Trinidad and Tobago — not far from Venezuela.

😳As we told you Friday night, the Pentagon is planning something.

‼️The USS Gerald Ford and its strike group should arrive later this week.

But what⁉️: Regime change? Trading Putin that Maduro stays in return for a deal in Ukraine?

Watch tonight📺: Retired Commander Kirk Lippold and retired General Philip Breedlove about what this really shows.

WATCH ON BALANCE WEEKNIGHTS AT 9P/8C

Every night during On Balance, Leland Vittert asks "why?" about the most pressing matters of the day, with an intellectual, balanced and sometimes irreverent take on the news.

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