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Zohran Mamdani was right where Republicans wanted him on Wednesday—sitting for an interview with MAGA-favorite Fox News, where they hoped the millennial leftist on track to be the next Mayor of New York City might deliver sound bites they could use against Democrats across the country. It might even set the agenda for the first general-election debate, slated for the following evening.

But Mamdani proceeded to give a cautious answer on peace in the Middle East and avoided taking petty jabs at President Donald Trump and his family when given an opening. And as he defended his plans to make the city’s buses free, fund help for childcare, and hike the tax for

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