Monday, November 9, 2026 - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s personal X account was reported to be missing its blue tick on Friday, November 6, two days after he criticised Elon Musk in a video about the US midterm elections.
The missing badge prompted speculation that Musk had
intervened, but the report did not establish when it disappeared, why it was
removed or whether Musk was involved.
Mamdani posted the video on Wednesday, November 4, after
Democrats made gains in Tuesday’s elections. Captioned “It’s morning again in
America.”, the video urged Democrats to use their electoral gains to address
the cost of living.
“Last night’s election proved: working people expect more
from their government. And they’re tired of waiting,” Mamdani said.
He criticised Vice President JD Vance for asking voters to
give the administration more time to fulfil its promises, arguing that families
could not put off paying rent, childcare or grocery bills for another two
years.
Mamdani also questioned the influence of extreme wealth in
American politics, singling out Musk. “People are tired of being told that
there isn’t enough to go around while Elon Musk becomes the world’s first
trillionaire,” he said.
Forbes estimated that Musk’s fortune reached $1 trillion
in June 2026 after SpaceX’s stock market debut, but later reported that it had
fallen below that threshold. Mamdani also accused wealthy political interests
of trying to influence the midterms through campaign spending. His main appeal
was to fellow Democrats. “It is not enough to simply win power. We must use
it,” he said.
By Friday, posts on X were drawing attention to the
missing badge on @ZohranKMamdani. One user questioned whether Mamdani had
stopped paying for X Premium or whether Musk had personally intervened. Grok,
X’s AI chatbot, listed possible explanations and said there was no public
evidence that Musk had ordered the badge removed. It did not identify what
happened to the account.
Under X’s published rules, a blue tick generally indicates
that an account has a paid subscription and meets the platform’s eligibility
requirements. It does not independently confirm the account holder’s identity.
Changes to a profile photo, display name or username can temporarily remove the
badge while X reviews the account. Subscription changes or violations of
platform rules can also affect its status.
Mamdani’s personal profile is separate from @NYCMayor, the
official mayoral account, which can carry a different designation for
government accounts. In December 2025, the European Commission fined X over
transparency breaches, including what it described as the deceptive design of
its blue ticks. X says it is appealing the decision.
As of the November 6 report, neither Musk nor Mamdani’s
representatives had publicly explained the badge’s disappearance.
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