NY mayor-elect’s meeting with Trump scrambles the MAGA-sphere

It was a break-the-internet moment if there ever was one. Unpredictable, at times perplexing and rich, with the kinds of surreal moments social media feeds on.

- Nathan Taylor Pemberton

After the Nov 21 meeting between President Donald Trump and Mr Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York, certain corners of the internet did, in fact, appear to be broken — or at least temporarily off-kilter - including the sprawling online ecosystem that has emerged from the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

This raucous hive, which tends to hype up every win by the President, was uncharacteristically muted in response to the meeting with Mr Mamdani.

What was supposed to be a “socialist showdown”, in the words of a Fox News chyron, was instead filled with smiles, good vibes and the President's endorsement of Mr Mamdani’s leadership.

“I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Mr Trump told reporters.

With no ideological confrontation to rally around, political influencers and commentators associated with the MAGA movement struggled to summon a unified response.

The diverging reactions across the conservative spectrum — from longstanding Trump loyalists, widely read anonymous posters and users representing the young America First wing - underscored the divisions and infighting roiling the right.

Many of the MAGA faithful opted for a more tentative approach, spotlighting the President's softer side.

One influential white nationalist account argued that Mr Trump was sparing Mr Mamdani a public humiliation. Another post making the rounds, by a pro-Trump YouTuber, suggested the interaction between the two men was proof of the President's sense of humour.

Some of the movement’s most authoritative voices, like Mr Tucker Carlson, had yet to weigh in as at the afternoon of Nov 23.

Even the President’s own clip account on the social media platform X, Rapid Response 47, a reliable booster of all things Mr Trump, opted to ignore the Nov 21sit-down altogether.

Since his primary victory, Mr Mamdani has been the target of a steady stream of attacks by broad swathes of the right.