A resurfaced 2016 radio interview featuring New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reignited criticism from conservatives this week after social media users accused him of speaking with what they described as a fake Ugandan accent while promoting his mother’s Disney film.
The clip comes from a 2016 appearance on South Africa’s Kaya 959 radio station tied to the release of Queen of Katwe. During the interview, Mamdani spoke about growing up between Uganda and New York, contrasting nightlife and dancing in the two places.
“The difference for me is I’m from Uganda, but I also grew up in New York. In New York, you go out, some guys are very hesitant to dance,” Mamdani said.
“You know, if they’re not grinding, they’re just standing. In Kampala, you will just not find that. People are all dancing. Everybody’s dancing, men, women, and it’s fantastic that way.”
Although the interview first resurfaced last year, the video spread widely online again Wednesday, with conservative commentators piling on and accusing Mamdani of adopting an accent that they argued sounded different from his normal speaking voice.
“Look at theater kid commie Mamdani running another fake accent and appropriating African culture. Communists are all frauds. EVERY single one. Don’t ever trust a communist, or else you’ll get Galloway’d and stranded in a gulag,” former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt posted on X.
fell down a mamdani rabbit hole and found this old interview from when he was on kaya fm in south africa. omg his ugandan accent is so thick here, i’m obsessed 🥹 pic.twitter.com/OxnXRfSnUP
— ً (@BALUCIAGA) August 4, 2026
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In another X post, Benny Johnson, host of The Benny Show, wrote, “UNEARTHED: Zohran Mamdani does an obviously fake Ugandan accent while promoting a Disney movie based in Africa. How many Democrats have been caught using fake accents at this point? They’re all frauds.”
“Anyone else notice Mamdani’s accent change? He must’ve studied at Obama University,” conservative commentator Tara Bull posted on X.
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“Has Zohran Mamdani ever explained when adopting another culture’s accent is “cultural appropriation” and when it is “authenticity”? He had plenty to say about everyone else’s privilege at Bowdoin,” former Crazy Eddie CFO and convicted fraudster Sammy Antar posted on X.
“When did Disney start to suck? When they hired the directors son who had a fake Ugandan accent. He didn’t mind “big corporations” when they were signing his checks,” Loud Majority Live host Kevin Smith posted on X.
Mamdani was born in Uganda and holds dual U.S. and Ugandan citizenship. He spent part of his childhood in South Africa before moving to New York City at age 7.
His mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, directed Queen of Katwe, which tells the story of Ugandan chess champion Phiona Mutesi. Mamdani worked on the film as its music supervisor and third assistant director and also made a brief on-screen appearance.
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