A democratic socialist and practising Muslim, born in Uganda to Indian-Ugandan parents, appears to have just unexpectedly prevailed in the Democratic primary, thus becoming the party鈥檚 candidate for mayor of New York in an election on November 4.
On his way to the nomination, Zohran Mamdani criticised Israel鈥檚 conduct in Gaza, argued for higher taxes on corporations and the super-rich, for expanding and protecting gender-affirming care, for making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary, and for raising the city鈥檚 minimum wage.
So as you can imagine, everyone is behaving extremely normally about the whole thing.
Trump et al
鈥淲e鈥檝e had radical lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous,鈥 US President Donald Trump found time in the maelstrom of a growing war in the Middle East and impending nuclear fallout to post about a candidate he called 鈥渁 100% communist lunatic鈥:
He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he鈥檚 not very smart, he鈥檚 got AOC+3, Dummies ALL backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin鈥 Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, meanwhile, threw white supremacist ideology into the mix, invoking the 鈥済reat replacement theory鈥 on X: 鈥淭he commentary about NYC Democrats nominating an anarchist-socialist for Mayor omits one point: how unchecked migration fundamentally remade the NYC electorate. Democrats change politics by changing voters. That鈥檚 how you turn a city that defined US dominance into what it is now.鈥
鈥淣YC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration,鈥 he continued in another post.
Republican New York Representative Elise Stefanik called Mamdani a 鈥渞adical, defund-the-police, communist, raging antisemite鈥. It got worse 鈥 much worse 鈥 from various MAGA figures whose views don鈥檛 deserve oxygen.
But you鈥檇 expect hyperbole from that end of the political spectrum. What of the relatively rational networks whose partisan inclinations are more likely to lean towards the Democrats?
Joe Kernen, co-host of Squawk Box on CNBC, was so furious at the result that he lost the ability to form sentences 鈥 usually a good thing, all things considered 鈥 invoking 鈥渨hat Batman is up against in Gotham鈥: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e taking Wall Streeters and making them walk out onto the ice in the East River in the hope and then they fall through鈥 I mean there is a class warfare that鈥︹檈at the rich鈥.鈥
And the Democrats?
Democrats though, surely, must be pleased that someone who has promised to 鈥淭rump-proof鈥 New York City seems to have struck such a chord with voters? Well鈥
Mamdani鈥檚 fellow New York Democrats, representatives Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen, have both distanced themselves, with Gillen calling him 鈥渢oo extreme鈥 while Suozzi wrote on X that 鈥淚 had serious concerns about Assemblyman Mamdani before yesterday, and that is one of the reasons I endorsed his opponent. Those concerns remain.鈥
That opponent was former governor Andrew Cuomo, who had resigned in August 2021 after a report from state Attorney-General Letitia James found that he had sexually harassed 11 women 鈥 this followed months of scandal in which several women accused him of conduct ranging from inappropriate behaviour to harassment, including groping. Cuomo denied the most serious allegations while conceding he had been 鈥渋nsensitive or too personal鈥 in his comments. Criminal complaints were raised but eventually dropped.
Anyway, he was the guy Suozzi didn鈥檛 have any serious concerns about. Like many senior Dems, it鈥檚 all about forgiving and forgetting, rather than getting behind someone who thinks buses should be free. It鈥檚 important that the party holds on to its traditions in these uncertain times, after all.
Speaking of prominent Democrats whose past is apparently not important, Semafor reports that New York鈥檚 business community has seemingly abandoned its 鈥済rudging support for former governor Andrew Cuomo鈥 and is instead 鈥渙rganising more desperately around Mayor Eric Adams in a last-ditch effort to block Mamdani in November鈥檚 general election鈥.
Adams, you may recall, is somehow still the mayor of New York after it was alleged the 鈥渢ough on crime鈥 candidate hadn鈥檛 been quite so intolerant of the crimes he allegedly committed himself. We鈥檒l never know for sure, as the Trump administration successfully moved to have the charges dismissed. Seperate but related: Adams, quite apart from anything else, is one of the most baffling people ever to have lived.