If Zohran Mamdani’s campaign ever wondered why New York’s working-class voters distrust his “social-justice for everyone else” act, they can thank his own staffer for reminding them.
Robert Akleh, the Citywide Canvass Manager for Mamdani’s mayoral run, was caught on video sneering at police officers and bragging about how the campaign manipulates community institutions for turnout. “Who gives a s–t what they think of the candidate,” Akleh says of NYPD officers in the clip released last week. “They’re city employees. They’re told what to do.”
The same footage captures Akleh outlining how the campaign organizes religious blocs to deliver votes: “You organize the mosques. You get the Imams to tell people to go vote. We get Zohran to go there and talk to them. That’s how we do it.”
Local outlets including Staten Island Voice and Bronx Voice confirmed Akleh’s role and payroll connection to Mamdani’s campaign, reporting roughly $40,000 in payments this cycle. The campaign has issued no denial or comment.
Even by New York standards, sneering at cops while openly discussing faith-based voter mobilization is political malpractice wrapped in arrogance. It’s also exactly the sort of double standard that has defined Mamdani’s brand: progressive piety in public, transactional cynicism in private.
For voters still deciding whether the man preaching “equity” represents them, his campaign’s own staff just provided the answer—on camera.
Citations:
– Staten Island Voice News – “Mamdani Campaign Staffer Dismisses Police Opinions on Video” (Oct 18 2025)
– Bronx Voice News – “Mamdani Canvass Director Describes Faith-Based Turnout Strategy” (Oct 19 2025)