Zohran Mamdani: I have spoken to Obama a number of times

Zohran Mamdani said he has spoken to Barack Obama “a number of times” since he trounced the Democratic establishment candidate Andrew Cuomo in the party’s mayoral primary.

The socialist candidate, 33, said the former US president called him “soon after the primary” and they have spoken on the phone several times.

The calls will likely have carried significant weight for Mr Mamdani, who is yet to be embraced by key players in the party amid concerns his controversial policies are too radical to appeal to voters outside liberal cities such as New York.

“It was a call I was honoured to receive,” Mr Mamdani said at an event in the Bronx, as part of his five-day anti-Trump tour across the city’s five boroughs.

During the initial call they spoke about his mayoral campaign, as well as “t