Honestly, I’m just wondering if Trump is so accustomed to people bending the knee that when someone rocks up and tells him to his face that he’s nothing special, he becomes the sycophant because he needs everyone to love him. It’s not about the power. The abuse of power is largely about exercising the limits of his popularity to prove to himself he has worth and value. Seeing how far his own sycophants will stretch is his way of feeling meaningful and important, quite likely trying to prove that to his dead father. Kim Jong Il is his ideal. He could kill someone in the middle of Pyongyang Ave and no one would bat an eye.

It doesn’t hurt that Mamdani is the new fave son of the city Trump cannot win over no matter what he does, no matter what title he holds.

New York is a proxy for Trump’s dad. He’s always gonna be a disappointment to his father, and will go to his grave having never bathed in the glow of his father’s pride.

It’s quite the magic trick - Mamdani turned Trump into the world’s first Orange pander bear.