Moments after being declared the winner of the New York City mayoral race, Democrat socialist Zohran Mamdani opened his victory speech with a nod to one of the most infamous radicals in American history.
Mamdani, 34, quoted Eugene Debs, a far-Left activist from the early 20th century who was stripped of his American citizenship after being convicted of sedition in 1918. Like Debs, Mamdani has embraced radical policies, including broad promises to provide a range of free services to New Yorkers.
“I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani quoted Debs as saying.
Debs, who supported the violent communist revolution in Russia in 1917 and was deeply influenced by Karl Marx, had his citizenship restored by a joint resolution of Congress in the 1970s. From 1900 to 1920, Debs ran for president five times. He described capitalism as a “monstrous system” and said that his Socialist Party was defined by a “militant” spirit and “revolutionary” goals.
Mamdani, who has not been shy about his embrace of socialism, promised in his victory speech to freeze rents for more than two million New Yorkers, provide free, fast busing, and offer universal childcare.
“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands,” he said. “The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life. But let tonight be the final time I utter his name, as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.”
Among Mamdani’s campaign promises are opening city-run grocery stores, “expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide,” raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, and ‘Trump-proofing’ New York by resisting cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about,” he said Tuesday night.
“We will prove that there is no problem to large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.”
Those are terrifying words. pic.twitter.com/EY0qypP3Qy
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) November 5, 2025
Mamdani’s speech focused heavily on class warfare and identity politics. He said his election showed that the city was a place “where the more than one million Muslims know that they belong. Not just in the five boroughs of the city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.”
He also took aim at the “billionaire class,” which he has promised to raise taxes on to pay for his programs.
“As has so often occurred, the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour,” he said. “ They want the people to fight amongst ourselves so that we remain distracted from the work of remaking a long, broken system. We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore. They can play by the same rules as the rest of us.”
Mamdani also took shots at President Donald Trump during the speech, referring to him as a “despot.”
“If we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves,” he said. “After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump, how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”
Trump, who urged New Yorkers to back former New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo who ran as an independent, has suggested that he would slash funding to New York City if Mamdani were elected.
“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.
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