Zohran Mamdani: My Wife Is ‘an Oasis’ — Transcript

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1. 0:00I want to understand a little bit of the
2. 0:01personal side of what it means to be
3. 0:02mayor. Um
4. 0:05your wife, obviously Ramadiwajee,
5. 0:07is only 29, you're only 34, you met on
6. 0:11Hinge,
7. 0:12>> We did.
8. 0:12>> you got married just last year.
9. 0:14>> This seems like a lot.
10. 0:16>> It [laughter] is.
11. 0:17>> Um now you're both living in Gracie
12. 0:19Mansion. I mean, what has the first year
13. 0:22of navigating
14. 0:25being newlyweds, being recently married,
15. 0:27and also this
16. 0:29making hands in the air?
17. 0:31>> It's it's a lot, and I wouldn't want to
18. 0:33do it with anyone else.
19. 0:35It's
20. 0:37to be married to the love of my life
21. 0:40while leading the city that I love,
22. 0:42I
23. 0:43can't really ask for more.
24. 0:45And
25. 0:48in her I've found someone who
26. 0:51is
27. 0:55is an oasis.
28. 0:57And
29. 0:58it's I think it's it's
30. 1:02I'm just forever thankful for it.
31. 1:04>> in a in a first year of marriage you're
32. 1:05fighting over who [laughter] puts the
33. 1:07toothbrush in, and you're not deciding
34. 1:10how you're going to be mayor and first
35. 1:13lady.
36. 1:14>> [laughter]
37. 1:14>> Yeah, I think there's some particular
38. 1:16conversations that we have, but in many
39. 1:18ways
40. 1:19the beauty of our life is that it still
41. 1:22feels as if it is our life.
42. 1:24>> Do you think the scrutiny she's getting
43. 1:25is fair?
44. 1:26>> No.
45. 1:28I think it's I think this goes back to
46. 1:31an earlier part of our conversation.
47. 1:33What we sign up for, and also what I
48. 1:35think in many ways is also an antiquated
49. 1:37understanding of
50. 1:39what a politician's wife is supposed to
51. 1:41be. She is her own person. She's an
52. 1:44incredible artist. And yet so much of
53. 1:46how she engages with the world today
54. 1:50is framed through her being my wife. And
55. 1:54some of the most joyous moments I have
56. 1:56are when people come up to me and tell
57. 1:57me that they love Rama's art. Because
58. 2:00that's what she is. She's an artist.
59. 2:02Yes, she's my wife, but
60. 2:04you know,
61. 2:06that's what she does. I'm someone she
62. 2:07loves.