Fact Check: Did Sen John Kennedy read Zohran Mamdani’s 'trust-fund manifesto' live on national TV?
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A claim has been going around social media that Republican Louisiana Sen John Kennedy read New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s “trust-fund manifesto” live on air during an appearance on Fox News’ 'Hannity'. So, let's see if there's any truth to it.
Origin of the claim
It all started on Monday, November 10, when a Facebook user named Kienen-Patricia-Natasja shared a collage featuring John Kennedy, Zohran Mamdani, and Fox News host Sean Hannity with the headline, “KENNEDY READS ZOHRAN KWAME MAMDANI'S ENTIRE TRUST-FUND MANIFESTO ON FOX PRIMETIME – THEN SAYS 'GO CASH DADDY'S CHECK FIRST, JUNIOR.'”
The post quickly spread across social media platforms such as Bluesky, LinkedIn, Threads, Truth Social, and X (formerly Twitter).
It began, "Sean Hannity thought he was just tossing Kennedy a softball about 'defund the police.' Zohran Mamdani jumped in from split-screen, sneering: 'Senator Kennedy is a fossil who needs to do his homework on abolition. Maybe start by paying reparations with his oil money.'"
According to the post, Kennedy paused for “four full seconds” before reaching under the desk and pulling out a gold-embossed folder labeled "ZOH-RENT." The senator read out the alleged contents, taking aim at Mamdani’s supposed silver-spoon upbringing.
He apparently mentioned, "Born: $28 million trust fund; Upper West Side High school: Dalton, $61k/year; College: Bowdoin, full ride named after a slave trader; Rent: $0 – mommy pays the $14k/month Tribeca loft; Security: two off-duty NYPD (the same police he wants abolished) outside his door 24/7; Carbon footprint: 47 private jets in 2024 while lecturing subway riders about climate; Latest bill: ban gas stoves – introduced from his Wolf range kitchen; Quote last week: 'No one should own a second home' – filmed inside his third Hamptons property."
The post then claimed Kennedy shut the folder and looked straight into the camera for the "kill shot."
“Son, I did my homework. I even highlighted the parts where you demand poor kids give up their safety while you hide behind daddy's armed guards. When you can live one month on an EBT card instead of a Black Card, then come talk to me about abolition. Till then, take your silver-spoon sermons, roll 'em tight, and shove 'em where the trust fund don't reach," he apparently concluded.
According to the viral post, the alleged clip racked up a staggering 134 million views in two hours, and Fox even green-lit a new weekly segment called “Kennedy’s Receipts.”
Fact Check: False, no such clip aired on Fox News
The reality is that none of this ever happened, Snopes confirmed. No such clip ever aired on Fox News, and Mamdani has never appeared on 'Hannity'. The entire “trust-fund manifesto” was fictional and stitched together with bogus details and some AI-generated dialogue.
Snopes found no record of the segment in Fox’s archives, no clips circulating on verified platforms, and no mentions from Kennedy’s or Mamdani’s verified accounts. Even the so-called “manifesto” seemed suspiciously polished. Scans of the text using AI-detection tools gave conflicting readings, but Copyleaks flagged it as 100% likely to be AI-generated.
The Facebook page that originated the claim, Kienen-Patricia-Natasja, had several red flags. A peek into its “page transparency” tab revealed that at least two of its managers live in Vietnam. This matters because Vietnam-based pages have been known to churn out fake, AI-spun clickbait.
The real Zohran Mamdani
There is no record of Zohran Mamdani, who has served as an Assemblymember representing a Queens district since 2021, being born with a $28 million trust fund. His official New York State Assembly bio says he was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to New York City at age seven with his family.
The West Side Rag reported that Mamdani attended the Bank Street School for Children (where current grade school tuition ranges from $66,236 to $68,793) before transferring to the public Bronx High School of Science.
As for the claim about a $14,000-a-month Tribeca loft paid for by his mother, it contradicts a New York Times profile published on November 7 that describes Mamdani’s actual living situation as a $2,300-a-month one-bedroom apartment that recently suffered a sink leak.
Furthermore, searches across Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo turned up zero evidence of any “trust fund,” Dalton School diploma, or Hamptons property ownership.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
