Bad news for New Yorkers: Socialist Zohran Mamdani just won his bid to become New York City’s next mayor. Once a shining beacon of not only capitalism but the American dream, the city used to be home to people of countless nationalities, faiths, skin colors, and income brackets who came together under the shared flag of the United States of America Now, as evidence of its ongoing descent, voters have chosen pro-Hamas, pro-communism, and anti-American Mamdani, whose first job could well be running the biggest city in the country.
But while this is certainly a disaster for New York City, there is a silver lining here (at least until Mamdani tries to stick a 50% tax on it). As the Washington Examiner previously reported, Mamdani received “50.4% of the vote with 75% of ballots counted.” Not only was the race close, but Mamdani barely succeeded in breaking through with a majority of voters.
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When you consider that Eric Adams won with 67% in 2021 and Bill deBlasio with 66.2% in 2017 and 73.2% in 2013, Mamdani simply isn’t all that popular, even in one of the most radical hotbeds in the nation. And that’s the key point.
The Democratic Party and its beloved legacy media are presenting Mamdani as one of the gleaming faces of its next generation (despite the fact that Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which openly despises the Democratic Party). Throughout the media, coverage of Mamdani is overflowing with sheer adoration for the Ugandan-born child of privilege who apparently wants to globalize the intifada.
This treatment is almost indistinguishable from that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), another member of the socialist wing of the Left whose youth and charisma act as a convenient veil for what should be a shocking track record of absurd, offensive, and terrifying statements.
This might fly in New York City — with Ocasio-Cortez representing New York’s 14th Congressional District, including parts of Queens and the Bronx — as well as other Democratic strongholds such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. But the Democrats are making a massive mistake if they think the supposed popularity of figures such as Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez could possibly translate nationally.
After all, Americans trust the Republican Party over the Democratic Party when it comes to the economy, immigration, and crime. And they are concerned that crime is increasing across the country, with a “strong majority [believing] that the level of crime and violence in American cities is unacceptably high,” according to NPR/Ipsos polling.
How would Americans who are deeply concerned about crime respond to the national candidacy of someone such as Mamdani, who believes that “violence is an artificial construction” and that the real violence is the prosecution of criminals?
How would Americans who are deeply concerned about immigration respond to Mamdani, who routinely changes his accent depending on his audience, pushes propaganda for terrorist groups, and even releases campaign ads in Arabic?
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How would Americans who are deeply concerned about the economy respond to someone such as Mamdani, who wants to make buses free and believes that freezing rents could possibly solve a housing crisis that is spreading across the country?
The answer is: not well. So while we should mourn for New York City, there’s also a chance that Democrats get a taste of local victory and think they can take it national. How wrong they are.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. Follow him on X (@ighaworth) or Substack.
