Two speeches, two different visions of what it means to be an American

July 4, 2026 — 3:32pm

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

Washington: Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani are often described as two sides of the same coin – populist responses to the abject failure of establishment politics to capture voters’ imaginations or deliver on their promises.

The US president and the New York mayor both gave noteworthy speeches on Friday, the eve of America’s 250th anniversary; both were steeped in the same American legend, but they were incompatible in their visions for their country.

Mamdani spoke in the morning at City Hall, sitting behind a desk that once belonged to George Washington, surrounded by recently naturalised US citizens – immigrants like himself – to the nation they were celebrating.

Easily one of the most important political figures in the country, Mamdani used the occasion to highlight what he called the contradictions of modern America. It is the wealthiest country in the world, he pointed out, but allows much of that wealth to be held “in the soft hands of a precious few”. It is a country where children sleep hungry “while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more”. It is a country where health insurers exploit the sick and elections are sold to........

© WA Today