New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa's hand during a flu shot at a Brooklyn immunization clinic on Thursday, according to social media posts and news coverage that have circulated widely online.
The exchange, captured in footage posted by @Acyn and @atrupar, shows Sliwa expressing nervousness about the shot while Mamdani offers reassurance.
"This could be very embarrassing. I'm supposed to be a tough guy, right?" Sliwa says in the video posted by @Acyn.
"I can hold your hand," Mamdani responds.
"What happens if I faint?" Sliwa asks.
"I got you," Mamdani says.
A doctor administering the shot adds, "You're in great hands, literally."
The video posted by @atrupar shows the same exchange, with the account noting that Sliwa "takes him up on the offer" to hold hands during the vaccination. The post describes the footage as "fun" and notes that flu season is approaching.
Reuters Connect coverage identifies the location as the Fort Greene Immunization Clinic in New York City, with Dr. Alister Martin, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, administering the shot to Mamdani. The Reuters caption states that Sliwa "looks on" as Mamdani receives the vaccination.
ABC7 New York framed the moment as an "apparent bromance" that "has continued to blossom for the one-time political rivals."
The posts from @Acyn and @atrupar were published Thursday afternoon, with @Acyn posting at 5:56 PM UTC and @atrupar at 7:02 PM UTC. The footage shows the two men seated next to each other, with Sliwa visibly apprehensive about the needle and Mamdani offering physical and verbal reassurance.
The exchange represents a notable shift in tone between two figures who were once political opponents. Sliwa, a Republican, ran against Mamdani, a Democrat, in the 2025 New York City mayoral race.
The video has been shared across multiple platforms, with accounts including @Acyn and @atrupar carrying the footage. ABC7 New York also covered the event, describing the interaction as an "apparent bromance."
Reuters Connect provided additional context, noting that the event took place at a public health facility and involved the city's top health official administering the vaccine.
The footage shows the two men seated side by side, with Sliwa's hand being held by Mamdani as the shot is administered. The doctor's comment that Sliwa is "in great hands, literally" draws on the physical gesture between the two former rivals.
It is not yet known whether the two men have commented publicly on the viral nature of the footage or whether the exchange was planned as a public health promotion. The posts from @Acyn and @atrupar do not include any statement from either Sliwa or Mamdani beyond what appears in the video.
Next News Network could not independently verify the details of the exchange beyond what is shown in the footage and described in the coverage cited above.
The footage was posted on the same day that former Trump administration official Tucker Carlson released an interview with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a British Conservative politician, discussing the United Kingdom's military readiness and its posture toward Russia. That interview, posted by @TuckerCarlson, covers topics including the size of the British military, the war in Ukraine, and the possibility of nuclear escalation.
Rees-Mogg, in the interview, argues that the United Kingdom needs to be prepared for war with Russia and that doing so would deter conflict. Carlson repeatedly questions why Russia would threaten the United Kingdom and whether the war in Ukraine is worth the risk of escalation.
"What is this war and why do you have to fight it?" Carlson asks at the outset of the interview.
Rees-Mogg responds that the United Kingdom "needs to be prepared for war" and that "we are coming under attack in various ways from Russia."
Carlson challenges Rees-Mogg's assertions, asking why Russia would want to pick a fight with Britain and whether the United Kingdom has a direct interest in the conflict.
"Do you believe in cause and effect?" Carlson asks at one point, pressing Rees-Mogg on whether Western support for Ukraine constitutes participation in the war.
Rees-Mogg counters that "the way to avoid war is to prepare for it" and that deterrence requires strength.
The interview also touches on historical questions, including the justification for the use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with Carlson questioning whether killing civilians can ever be morally justified and Rees-Mogg defending the decision as necessary to end the Second World War.
"I think it was justified," Rees-Mogg says of the bombings. "I think it was justified in bringing the Second World War to an end."
Carlson pushes back, asking whether killing "women and children" can meet the test of a just war. Rees-Mogg maintains that it does, citing the conditions set forth by Thomas Aquinas.
The interview runs for more than an hour and covers topics including the Treaty of Versailles, the First and Second World Wars, immigration in the United Kingdom, and free speech laws.
Carlson concludes by asking Rees-Mogg if, in the event of a Russian response to British and American support for Ukraine, he could tell surviving loved ones that their deaths were worth it. Rees-Mogg responds that "the freedom of the United Kingdom is certainly worth my rather elderly life."
The two stories -- the flu shot exchange in Brooklyn and the Carlson interview with Rees-Mogg -- gained traction on social media the same afternoon, with accounts including @Acyn, @atrupar, and @TuckerCarlson carrying the material. The posts do not include engagement figures, and any assessment of their spread would require data not provided in the source material.
It is not yet known whether the flu shot event was organized as a joint public appearance by Mamdani and Sliwa or whether the two men happened to be at the same clinic at the same time. The posts from @Acyn and @atrupar describe the footage as showing the two men together but do not provide additional logistical detail.
Next News Network could not independently verify the circumstances of the flu shot exchange or the full context of the Carlson interview beyond what is shown in the footage and transcripts.
Our Take
The viral flu shot moment between Mamdani and Sliwa is a textbook example of how a small, human interaction can dominate a news cycle. Two former political rivals, one a self-described tough guy, the other offering to hold his hand, and a camera rolling -- it's the kind of footage that spreads without any help from a communications team. But the same afternoon brought a far more consequential conversation: Tucker Carlson's interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg, which laid out the case for British military preparedness and the risks of escalation with Russia. That interview deserves the same attention as the hand-holding clip. The contrast is striking: a lighthearted moment in Brooklyn gets shared across platforms while a sober discussion about war, deterrence, and nuclear risk gets relegated to a niche audience. The right lessons from history -- the ones that keep the peace -- are rarely the ones that go viral.
