Fact Check: Was Zohran Mamdani’s HQ screen hacked with ‘Trump is your president’ slogan?

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A news report claims that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's headquarters was hacked with the slogan, "Trump is your president."

Following Mamdani’s NYC mayoral win, a clip from his victory speech quickly went viral on Instagram before spreading to X, Facebook, and Reddit. The question remains: Was the HQ screen really hacked?

What’s the truth behind the video? Here’s a closer look.

Claim: Zohran Mamdani HQ screen hacked with ‘Trump is your president’ message

The viral video surfaced shortly after the young Democrat secured victory in the New York mayoral race on Tuesday, November 4, defeating Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.

In the footage, Mamdani is seen delivering a speech while a screen in the background appears to display the message, “Trump is your president.”

Originally shared by the #TakeThisViral TikTok page, the clip quickly spread across Instagram, Facebook, and X. The video shows a large crowd gathered at the event, with the screen clearly visible, and even includes a PBS News logo in the bottom left corner. 

Fact Check: False, Zohran Mamdani’s HQ screen was never hacked

Contrary to circulating claims, Mamdani’s headquarters was not hacked. The footage making the rounds actually shows live election-night coverage reporting on Donald Trump’s reaction to Mamdani’s victory. During his victory speech, the HQ remained secure.

No police reports indicated a breach, and no credible media outlets, including Fox News, The New York Post, Mediaite, People, The Guardian, BBC, or CNBC,  reported any such incident. Likewise, neither Twitter nor Google Analytics recorded any unusual activity related to this claim on November 4.

The confusion appears to have stemmed from a since-deleted White House X post displaying the message “Trump is your president,” which appeared during the broadcast.

The viral clip was taken from a PBS News livestream of Mamdani’s election-night watch party, starting at the 1:48:48 mark. In the bottom left corner, a slightly blurry “Spectrum News” logo confirms that the footage originated from a live news broadcast. It was simply part of the visual backdrop during the speech. 

Knicks logo parody in White House X post triggers backlash

The White House shared a now-deleted post on X that featured an image styled after the New York Knicks logo, with the words “Trump is your president” written across it. During the race, Trump had been openly critical of Mamdani, calling him a “communist.”

The White House post was reportedly intended as a jab at Mamdani’s mayoral victory. After the post went up on Tuesday, November 4, the Knicks reached out to the White House, and the post was voluntarily removed, a source close to the team told The New York Post.

“The Knicks remain neutral on political matters,” a team spokesperson said. “We hope all our elected officials, whether current or newly elected, do a great job in office.”

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