Vice President JD Vance delivered sharp criticism of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, slamming him for his July 4 comments and questioning his sense of gratitude toward the United States. “Who the h— does he think that he is?” Vance asked during a speech that drew enthusiastic applause.
Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee for mayor and was born in Uganda, shared a message on Independence Day that described America as “beautiful, contradictory, unfinished.” His post concluded with the phrase “No Kings in America,” referencing the left-wing “No Kings” demonstrations that took place last month across the country.
While addressing the Claremont Institute’s Statesmanship Award dinner in Rancho Santa Fe, California, on Saturday evening, Vance used the opportunity to draw attention to Mamdani’s remarks. He framed them as lacking appreciation for the nation that provided his family refuge.
“Today is July 5, 2025, which means, as all of you know, that yesterday we celebrated the 249th anniversary of the birth of our nation,” Vance began. “You know, the person who wishes to lead our largest city had, according to multiple media reports, never once publicly mentioned America’s Independence Day in earnest, but when he did so this year, this is what he said — and this is an actual quote.”
Mamdani’s full statement read: “America is beautiful, contradictory, unfinished. I am proud of our country even as we constantly strive to make it better, to protect and deepen our democracy, to fulfill its promise for each and every person who calls it home. Happy Independence Day. No Kings in America.”
After reciting Mamdani’s message, Vance responded sharply. “There is no gratitude in those words, no sense of owing something to this land and the people who turned its wilderness into the most powerful nation on Earth.”
He went on to recount Mamdani’s background, noting the violence that his Indian-heritage family fled in Uganda under the dictatorship of Idi Amin. Vance highlighted that Mamdani’s family escaped ethnic persecution and found refuge in the United States, a nation he believes Mamdani now takes for granted.
“Zohran Mamdani’s father fled Uganda when the tyrant Idi Amin decided to ethnically cleanse his nation’s Indian population. Mamdani’s family fled violent racial hatred, only for him to come to this country — a country built by people he never knew, overflowing with generosity to his family, offering a haven from the kind of violent ethnic conflict that is commonplace in world history, but it is not commonplace here — and he dares, on our 249th anniversary, to congratulate it by paying homage to its incompleteness, and to its as he calls it, ‘contradiction.’”
Vance questioned whether Mamdani had ever reflected on the sacrifices made by Americans throughout the country’s history. “I wonder, has he ever read the letters from boy soldiers in the Union Army to parents and sweethearts that they’d never see again? Has he ever visited the gravesite of a loved one who gave their life to build the kind of society where his family could escape racial theft and racial violence? Has he ever looked in the mirror and recognized that he might not be alive were it not for the generosity of a country he dares to insult on its most sacred day?”
“Who the h— does he think that he is?” Vance repeated, prompting a wave of applause from the crowd.

{Matzav.com}