If you wanted to assure the American public that a rising political star wasn&#8217;t a communist, you probably wouldn&#8217;t turn to an avowed socialist for his &#8220;expert&#8221; analysis.
But that&#8217;s what PolitiFact just did for Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City in a bombshell upset last month.
After his win, critics immediately raised the alarm that Mamdani would bring communism to the Big Apple. The self-described democratic socialist has proposed radical policies like government-run grocery stores, rent freezes, and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/resurfaced-video-shows-nyc-mayoral-hopeful-saying-he-wants-replace-private-homes-communal-living">converting</a> housing from private to public.
President Donald Trump called Mamdani a &#8220;100% Communist Lunatic,&#8221; and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and a number of conservative commentators branded him a communist as well.
So, PolitiFact geared up to defend him.
Two days after Mamdani&#8217;s victory, PolitiFact published a &#8220;<a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/jun/26/donald-trump/Zohran-Mamdani-democratic-socialist-communist-NYC/">fact check</a>&#8221; stating that claims he is a communist are &#8220;false.&#8221;
To support its claims, PolitiFact interviewed Geoffrey Kurtz, a political science professor who has <a href="https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/faculty/geoffrey-kurtz/">taught</a> for 18 years at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York.
&#8220;The idea that Mamdani is a communist is an absurd slander,&#8221; Kurtz told the outlet.
But Kurtz isn&#8217;t just a professor. He was a socialist activist <a href="https://ncfcatalyst.com/not-so-new-college-2/">in college</a> and remains a socialist today.
Kurtz was involved with the campus chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America while earning his bachelor&#8217;s at New College of Florida, <a href="https://ncfcatalyst.com/not-so-new-college-2/">according</a> to the school&#8217;s student newspaper.
The campus chapter&#8217;s pamphlets reportedly addressed members as &#8220;dear radicals.&#8221;
Kurtz continued to be involved with the organization after he graduated college, when he was an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM-vllyxKIw">editor</a> of the Democratic Socialists of America’s Religion and Socialism Blog.
The professor has also written <a href="https://www.dsausa.org/blog/what-religious-socialists-bring-to-our-table/">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.religioussocialism.org/a_socialist_reads_advent">times</a> about being a &#8220;religious socialist.&#8221;
The authors of the PolitiFact &#8220;fact check&#8221; did not respond to a request for comment.
In the end, PolitiFact concluded that Mamdani&#8217;s platform is &#8220;not akin to communism, a system in which the government controls the means of production and takes over private businesses.&#8221;
&#8220;We rate this statement False,&#8221; PolitiFact stated.
Hilariously though, PolitiFact failed to acknowledge Mamdani&#8217;s own social media posts talking about workers seizing the &#8220;means of production,&#8221; a key Marxist concept.
&#8220;If we want everyone to be full participants in the economy, we need worker ownership of the means of production,&#8221; Mamdani <a href="https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1333943646777913346">posted</a> on X in 2020.
On Thursday, PolitiFact added an editor&#8217;s note saying the White House had alerted them to Mamdani&#8217;s old posts. The outlet said it re-interviewed several experts, but still decided Mamdani still isn&#8217;t a communist.
&#8220;We found the significance of [Mamdani&#8217;s] comment inconclusive and not reflective of his 2025 mayoral platform, so our rating remains unchanged,&#8221; the editor&#8217;s note reads.
Go figure.
&#8220;I had the impression that Mamdani intended that phrase as lighthearted hyperbole. I see no reason to assume that the phrase conveys anything precise about what he thinks,&#8221; Kurtz, the socialist professor, <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/jul/03/seizing-means-production-Zohran-Mamdani/">told</a> PolitiFact when they interviewed him again.
Hyperbole, huh? Well, as Xi Van Fleet — a survivor of Mao&#8217;s Cultural Revolution in Communist China — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-lived-in-the-communist-world-zohran-mamdani-dreams-of-its-worse-than-you-could-imagine">wrote for The Daily Wire</a> last week, there&#8217;s nothing lighthearted about Mamdani&#8217;s political platform.
&#8220;The danger of Communism is not that it comes all at once, but that it creeps in gradually, wrapped in words like &#8216;justice&#8217; and &#8216;equity,'&#8221; Van Fleet wrote. &#8220;But behind the slogans lies a brutal reality: misery, scarcity, and repression.&#8221;

USA-WORKING-FAMILIES-PARTY-RALLY-FORT-GREENE-PARK

PolitiFact Says Mamdani Is Not A Communist. The Expert They Cite Is A Socialist.

PolitiFact's 'Fact Check' Says Mamdani Is Not A Communist. Their Expert Is A Socialist.

New York

New York City

PolitiFact

Zohran Mamdani

Catastrophic flash floods kill dozens in Texas. What exactly is in Trump’s One Lovely Law? Plus, New Yorkers are beginning to wake up to the possibility of a socialist mayor.
It’s Monday, July 7, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Tragedy In Texas</h2>
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Topline: Catastrophic flooding has killed at least 82 people in Central Texas, including 28 children. Officials describe the situation as a once-in-a-century event.
Dozens are still missing in Central Texas after flash floods caused the Guadalupe River to surge early in the morning on Independence Day – an especially popular time for camping. In many cases, people didn’t realize the danger until the water had already reached their beds. Kerr County, west of Austin, was the hardest area hit – where the river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes.
The episode that has garnered the most national attention is the Camp Mystic case– a Christian, all-girls camp in Kerr County. Every year, hundreds of girls visit to camp by the river and participate in a spiritual retreat. The flood caught the camp by surprise, and dozens of campers and counselors were killed, and at least 11 girls are still missing.
Hundreds of volunteers have turned out in each of the affected counties and are helping officials comb through the debris and mud for any sign of missing persons. Due to the flood damage to roads, helicopters have become indispensable. 
“There&#8217;s about half a dozen helicopters with all volunteers,” Gary Heavin, a pilot with the disaster response charity organization Operation Helo, told The Daily Wire. “We&#8217;re flying National Guard out… fire department, all sorts of emergency rescue people.. They trudge along in the debris because a lot of times the bodies will be caught in the debris… hopefully, we also get to find people that are alive and bring them back.”
 Heavin said they’ve also gotten some outside help from the federal government and Elon Musk. Musk sent Starlink devices to the impacted areas for use by first responders. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been on the ground to provide assistance wherever it&#8217;s needed. President Donald Trump also signed a disaster declaration on Sunday, making additional resources available for emergency response.
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<h2>Inside The Big Bill</h2>
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Topline: After months of heated debate, President Trump’s so-called &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; is now the law of the land.
President Trump’s July 4 deadline for passing his &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; looked implausible at the end of last week, because House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had promised members they would have 72 hours to review the changes made by the Senate – but when it became clear that timeline would push the vote past Trump&#8217;s deadline, he changed course and started the vote on July 3, when it passed 218 to 214. 
That allowed President Trump to sign his signature legislation from the White House lawn on Independence Day, complete with a band blasting patriotic tunes and a flyover from B-2 bombers — an apparent nod to last month’s strikes on Iran. President Trump has made it clear that he views this bill as a means of codifying many of his campaign promises and delivering to the American people what they voted for in November. 
“We delivered no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on social security for our great seniors,” Trump said, claiming that the newly signed legislation is “the biggest bill of its kind ever done by far…It makes the child tax credit permanent for 40 million American families.”
Among other things, the &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; allows taxpayers to write off interest payments on car loans, and it establishes new “Trump accounts” for babies born between 2025 and 28 — those will include a one-time $1000 federal contribution to an investment fund on the child’s behalf. From there, families can contribute up to $ 5,000 annually, and the funds can be withdrawn once the individual is 18. 
The bill will put $46 billion towards the construction of the border wall, and tens of billions more towards deportation efforts. 
In order to offset the massive tax cuts, the bill includes around a trillion dollars in reductions to entitlements like Medicaid over the next decade, and will add work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid applicants aged 18-64 – going forward, people in that cohort will have to work at least 80 hours a month to qualify, or prove that they’re actively looking for work, and once they’ve enrolled they’ll have to prove they still qualify for benefits every six months.
Democrats say this will force millions of Americans off of Medicaid and cut funding to hospitals nationwide. 
On the other side, Republicans say Medicaid has become bloated in recent years with folks who are taking advantage of the system. They note that Medicaid enrollment increased significantly during the COVID pandemic, when continuous enrollment was implemented. Eight million people were added to the program in the last four years alone, while disenrollments were put on pause. 
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<h2>The Mamdani Effect</h2>
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Topline: New York City elites are panicking about the prospect of Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor and enacting his socialist policies.
A few weeks after his upset victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, critics of outspoken socialist Zohran Mamdani – from high-ranking Democrats and finance and tech figures to bodega owners and cops – are sounding the alarm about what his policies might do to America’s largest city. During the campaign, Mamdani focused on the high cost of living in New York City and proposed several schemes to bring it down, including, among other things, government-run grocery stores and rent control. Mamdani has also pledged to raise taxes on wealthier and “whiter” neighborhoods to fund his reforms, and has stated that he “[doesn’t] think billionaires should exist.”
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is throwing his full endorsement and financial weight behind current Mayor Eric Adams. Ackman called Mamdani a socialist/communist and said his policies would be “catastrophic for NYC.” Previously, Ackman was considering funding a new challenger just to beat Mamdani and said he was ready to spend “hundreds of millions of dollars” backing a challenger.
The tech elite are also panicking. On election night for the primary, New York-based venture capitalists and crypto exchange founders melted down on X, posting messages like, “New York City on the brink of becoming Gotham City.”
The president of the Police Benevolent Association, Patrick Hendry, called Mamdani “anti-cop” and said he has an “extremist attitude and it’s going to scare other cops and they will go out the door.” In 2020, Mamdani was a vocal supporter of <a href="https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1324520792231714816">defunding the police</a>. The NYPD is already having trouble recruiting and retaining officers — more than 1500 cops have quit this year — and with Mamdani’s anti-police stances, union officials are warning that his election would only make it harder to keep cops on the streets.
NYC bodega owners have also expressed concerns that Mamdani’s proposal for government-run grocery stores will put them out of business. 
“Most bodega owners are immigrants,” Fernando Mateo, spokesperson for the United Bodegas of America, said. “They come here to try to make a living and do the right thing by the city… if you’re able to infiltrate government into the private sector, you’re basically ruining the dreams and the spirits of all these small businesspeople who have risked everything they have, borrowed everything they could borrow to open their small business.”

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Morning Brief: Tragedy In Texas, Trump’s Big Win & The Mamdani Effect

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Joey “Jaws” Chestnut took back his title at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition on Friday, dominating the event after being booted from last year’s competition over a contract dispute with a fake meat company.
“Oh my gosh, I was nervous,” Chestnut told ESPN after reclaiming his crown. “[The] first couple of hot dogs, I was fumbling a little bit, but I found a pretty good rhythm. My goal was 70 to 77 – I really wanted a little bit more. There’s next year and I’m just happy I am here.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
JOEY CHESTNUT&#39;S DOMINANCE CONTINUES 🐐 
Chestnut downs 70.5 hot dogs to win his 17th Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest title 🏆 🌭 <a href="https://t.co/B3TMBrayZ7">pic.twitter.com/B3TMBrayZ7</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1941180650825879615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Chestnut stuffed himself with 70 ½ hot dogs in 10 minutes, marking the 41-year-old Indiana resident’s 17th “Mustard Belt” win in 20 tries – the most any competitor has won. Still, he fell short of his record of 76 hot dogs and buns from four years ago. He won his first Nathan&#8217;s competition in 2007, and an American has won the contest every year since.
He beat 14 other chowhounds from all over the world, including Brazil, Australia, and Europe. Friday’s second-place finisher, Patrick Bertoletti, ate 24 fewer frankfurters than Chestnut. Bertoletti won last year’s competition during Chestnut’s absence, downing 58 wieners and buns. The event has been held annually at Nathan’s Famous restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn, on July 4 since 1972.
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Although Chestnut did not compete in Nathan’s 2024 competition, he still holds 55 world records for various eating competitions. According to <a href="https://majorleagueeating.com/eaters/106">Major League Eating,</a> the moderating body behind the hot dog eating contest, Chestnut also holds records for eating 121 Twinkies in six minutes, 390 shrimp wontons in eight minutes, and, of course, his hot dog record from 2021.
Major League Eating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hot-dog-legend-joey-chestnut-signs-with-vegan-brand-gets-booted-from-july-4th-competition">banned</a> Chestnut from the Nathan’s Famous competition last year after he signed a deal with Impossible Foods, a Nathan’s competitor. In a <a href="https://x.com/eatingcontest/status/1800607390636875792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1800607390636875792%7Ctwgr%5Ec0d98868a70172f80ffb323be440b5ea4f586a0d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fhot-dog-legend-joey-chestnut-signs-with-vegan-brand-gets-booted-from-july-4th-competition">statement</a> last year on X, the group said, “We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.”
During his hiatus from Nathan’s Famous 2024 competition, Chestnut set the <a href="https://x.com/joeyjaws/status/1916645992176173327">record</a> for the most Buffalo Wild Wings eaten in one sitting, consuming 14.4 pounds of wings. He also consumed 83 all-beef hot dogs and buns at a Labor Day event in Las Vegas, according to CNN.
Chestnut took home $10,000 for his win on Friday, with the runner-up receiving $5,000, and $2500 for third place.
Sam Korkus contributed to this report.

Nathan’s Annual Fourth Of July Hot Dog Eating Contest Held In Coney Island

Chestnut Devours 70+ Hotdogs, Dominates Competition In Annual Display Of American Exceptionalism

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Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s bombshell upset win in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City has some wondering if far-Left radicalism is the future of the Democratic Party, which is struggling to find its footing after last year&#8217;s crushing presidential defeat.
Ryan Girdusky, host of the podcast &#8220;It&#8217;s A Numbers Game,&#8221; broke it down for The Daily Wire&#8217;s &#8220;Morning Wire,&#8221; explaining that urban areas like New York City are &#8220;sponges&#8221; for far-Left radicalism.
&#8220;If you have purple hair and 36 genders and don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;re a boy or a girl, why would you stay in Long Island? Why would you stay in Tennessee? Why would you stay in Ohio? You come to New York,&#8221; Girdusky told &#8220;Morning Wire.&#8221;
However, Girdusky noted that self-described socialist Mamdani did not receive a majority of first-round votes.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if in a head-to-head combat, he could have won,&#8221; Girdusky said, &#8220;and he was challenging a very problematic figure, being Andrew Cuomo, who had to resign in disgrace, and he was not considered an ally of progressives, and a lot of other people didn&#8217;t like him because of the COVID response.&#8221;
Cuomo, former governor of New York, was widely expected to snag the Democratic nomination for mayor before Mamdani&#8217;s win.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Zohran Mamdani’s far-left mayoral victory in New York could signal a takeover of the Democratic Party—and a warning for November. Political analyst and native New Yorker <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RyanGirdusky</a> breaks it all down. <a href="https://t.co/jA9fncwcJg">pic.twitter.com/jA9fncwcJg</a>
&mdash; Morning Wire (@MorningWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorningWire/status/1940689471118143775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Girdusky noted that over the last year, Republicans have registered more new voters than Democrats have in Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx.
&#8220;There is an increasing number of people who live without of a five mile radius or eight mile radius of Manhattan who are aligning themselves increasingly with the Republican Party,&#8221; he said.
Trump won 37% of the vote in Queens and 27% in the Bronx, both the highest for a Republican since the 1980s.
&#8220;These are astronomical numbers for a Republican, especially a Republican that had no support as far as a ground game or commercials or anything. It&#8217;s completely organic and it&#8217;s really happening,&#8221; Girdusky said.
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Meanwhile, the people still registering as Democrats look at &#8220;identity-based, Neo-Marxists&#8221; like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) or Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and think, &#8220;this is my kind of party,&#8221; Girdusky said.
The Democratic Party has changed in New York City because many Democrats who were not far-Left progressives have either moved, died, or become independent or Republican, and now the progressives outnumber them, he explained.
&#8220;That is the recipe for a lot of parts of our country,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In these urban areas where organization, especially around high-propensity voting, college educated, mostly white uber-progressives — when they can coalesce, they vote like it is their religion, mostly because they don&#8217;t have one.&#8221;
He added that places with high concentrations of ethnic minorities often &#8220;demand elected officials cater to them,&#8221; and this has intensified with mass immigration.
&#8220;That could be a good thing in some capacity, but when you&#8217;re doing it solely based on left-wing identitarian politics, you almost surely get people who are more like Ilhan Omar, AOC, Cori Bush, and all the rest of them,&#8221; he said.
Girdusky said that the groups driving far-Left politics are white, college-educated millennials and Gen Z-ers, Southeast Asian immigrants like Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, and black women, who often push a narrative that &#8220;all the cancers of society are because of whiteness.&#8221;
&#8220;Black women are increasingly identity-driven, far-Left radicals. Look at the cast of MSNBC. None of them can read, and it doesn&#8217;t matter,&#8221; he said.
Also, the children of Southeast Asian immigrants &#8220;usually assimilate very well because they all go to college, but they assimilate to — pardon my French, but s***lib behavior,&#8221; he said.
Girdusky noted that prominent Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) did not immediately embrace Mamdani, and Democrats on Long Island &#8220;openly said this was a mistake.&#8221;
Powerful Democrats like Schumer, who represent urban areas, are &#8220;all going to be primaried out of this machine,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;There used to be parameters that kept them in power, the black vote, unions, senior citizens, certain Jewish coalitions. Those are becoming one, less powerful, and two, less organized,&#8221; Girdusky said.
&#8220;I think that they&#8217;re genuinely worried. There&#8217;s definitely Democratic politicians and political operatives and donors behind the scenes as of right now saying, &#8216;How do we either get Cuomo or Eric Adams to run in the general, and how do we stop this guy now?'&#8221; he said.
He added that, going into the 2026 midterms, he would advise Republicans to encourage non-college-educated people to vote early.
&#8220;It is the most essential thing,&#8221; Girdusky said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the only way to counter this very active, very strong minority of the population, but a majority of the voting base, and that is what we&#8217;re going to see around the entire Democratic Party is how they can sit there and cater to them.&#8221;

2025 New York City Pride March

WATCH: Is Far-Left Mamdani The Future For Democrats? Ryan Girdusky Breaks It Down.

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A judge denied Sean “Diddy” Combs’ request to be let out of jail on bail Wednesday as the disgraced rapper awaits his sentencing.
Judge Arun Subramanian ruled against Combs’ request for a $1 million bail. Subramanian quoted Combs’ legal defense and spoke about the rapper’s past violence against his girlfriends when delivering his ruling.
“At trial, the defense conceded defendant’s violence in personal relationships saying ‘it happened’ in relation to Cassie Venture and Jane,” Subramanian said, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-07-02-25#cmcmgj2dn000t3b6mzhehagb4">CNN</a>. Prosecutors had argued that the rapper was a flight risk.
The judge also noted violence that took place after Combs’ homes were searched, saying of the episodes, “this highlights a disregard for the rule of law and a propensity of violence.”
Combs has been in jail since he was arrested in September.
Subramanian has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-07-02-25#cmcmgq1s400103b6mvx7yo2hu">floated</a> an October 3 date for Combs’ sentencing hearing. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked for the hearing date to be moved up as much as possible, suggesting that, if the judge agreed, the defense would waive a pre-sentencing investigation to secure an earlier date.
A Manhattan jury <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-found-guilty-on-2-counts-acquitted-of-most-serious-charges">found</a> Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution on Wednesday. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Both counts related to incidents with ex-girlfriends of the rapper.
The jury acquitted Combs of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
After the verdict was delivered, Combs <a href="https://apnews.com/live/sean-diddy-combs-trial-verdict-updates">appeared</a> to celebrate the jury’s decision that acquitted him on the most serious charges. He raised his hands in a prayer motion and then hugged one of his defense attorneys, Teny Geragos.
The verdict concluded a weeks-long trial in which prosecutors accused the 55-year-old rapper of coercing girlfriends to take part in drug-fueled “freak-off” parties that included rampant sexual exploitation of the women.
Combs’ defense did not deny many of the sordid details, but asserted that the activities at the parties and elsewhere were consensual.

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Diddy Denied: Disgraced Rapper To Remain In Lock Up Until Sentencing

Judge Denies Diddy Request For Bail As Disgraced Rapper Awaits Sentencing

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate in New York City’s mayoral race, sponsored a bill that would fine Jewish groups at least $1 million for donating to “unauthorized” charities operating in Israel.
Mamdani first introduced his bill, known as the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act,” in 2023 to block donations to groups that he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/17/new-york-law-aims-stop-funding-israeli-settlements-west-bank">accused</a> of funding the “expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians in the occupied territories.”
The bill is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/20/nyregion/ocasio-cortez-israeli-settlements.html">backed</a> by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Mamdani and has appeared at recent rallies alongside Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Mamdani, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, wrote the <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S606">legislation</a> to target “not-for-profit corporations” that engage “in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”
The legislation would ban Jewish synagogues and charities from donating to groups such as United Hatzalah and ZAKA, nonprofit groups that specialize in emergency response and treatment of victims of terrorism, according to <a href="https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-859627?dicbo=v2-puQTs4k#google_vignette">The Jerusalem Post</a>.
The bill would also ban donations to the <a href="https://oneisraelfund.org/learn/">One Israel Fund</a>, which focuses on “the safety and wellbeing of the 500,000+ residents of Judea and Samaria,” including providing “medical, educational, recreational, preventative security and all other forms of communal and social welfare.”
The bill defines settlement activity as “aiding and abetting activity by the Israeli armed forces, the government of Israel, or citizen thereof” relating to “the unlawful transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied territory” and “acts of violence committed by Israeli citizens against protected persons living in occupied territory.” The law goes on to include the “destruction, damage, or vandalism of Palestinian property,” “the appropriation, expropriation, seizure, destruction, demolition, dismantlement, or confiscation, in whole or in part, of private Palestinian land,” and “the unilateral acquisition and annexation of land in occupied territory.”
According to the bill, &#8220;occupied territory&#8221; relates to “the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.” “West Bank” is the Palestinian name for the regions of Judea and Samaria. The reference to “East Jerusalem” means that part of Israel’s capital city would be considered “occupied territory.”
After it was introduced in 2023, the legislature received swift condemnation from New York lawmakers, including many of Mamdani’s fellow Democrats. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins both <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2023/05/socialist-legislators-back-bill-block-new-york-charities-funding-israeli-settlements/386485/">said</a> that Mamdani’s bill would not receive a vote. A group of 25 lawmakers signed a letter opposing the bill.
“The bill is a ploy to demonize Jewish charities with connection to Israel. It was only introduced to antagonise pro-Israel New Yorkers and sow divisions within the Democratic party,” the letter <a href="https://x.com/DanRosenthalNYC/status/1658646209702051845">said</a>.
Mamdani beat former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to receive the Democratic Party’s nod to run in the general election for New York City mayor. Mamdani’s vocal support for socialism and <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/30/us-news/zohran-mamdanis-chilling-call-for-seizing-the-means-of-production-draws-outrage-from-communist-refugees/">use</a> of Communist revolutionary language has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/nyregion/eric-adams-business-leaders-meeting.html">worried</a> New York’s business community. Mamdani’s anti-Israel positions – including support for the antisemitic Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement – has further <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/us/politics/zohran-mamdani-jewish-voters.html">worried</a> New York’s substantial Jewish community.

Mamdani Bill Would Fine New Yorkers $1M For Donating To ‘Unauthorized’ Nonprofits In Israel

Israel

Several high profile Democrats have responded after Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, refused to condemn the phrase &#8220;globalize the intifada&#8221; over the weekend.
On Sunday, Mamdani was pressed three times to condemn &#8220;globalize the intifada&#8221; during an appearance on NBC, and each time he refused to do so, but said, &#8220;it&#8217;s not language that I use.&#8221;
&#8220;But do you actually condemn it?&#8221; NBC&#8217;s Kristen Welker pressed, noting that many people hear it as a &#8220;call to violence against Jews.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“Globalize the Intifada” is a call to violence. Full stop.
Words matter—whether Mamdani cares to believe that or not.
New Yorkers need to reject this lunatic. <a href="https://t.co/xLk9kyR9vQ">pic.twitter.com/xLk9kyR9vQ</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1939490143104360878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech in the manner, especially, of that of Donald Trump, who has put one New Yorker in jail, who has just returned to his family, Mahmoud Khalil, for that supposed crime of speech,&#8221; Mamdani said.
Mahmoud Khalil was a prominent participant of pro-Palestinian protests and campus occupations at Columbia University.
Also on Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) demanded Mamdani &#8220;clarify&#8221; his position on the controversial phrase.
“Globalizing the intifada, by way of example, is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said on ABC. &#8220;He&#8217;s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.&#8221;
&#8220;With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the City of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,&#8221; Jeffries said.
&#8220;Any mayor, whether you&#8217;re a Democratic mayor, a Republican mayor, an independent mayor, has got to commit to the safety of all of the people of the city of New York,&#8221; Jeffries said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hakeem Jeffries on Mamdani: &quot;&#39;Globalizing the intifada&#39; by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing. He&#39;s gonna have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/TA9Hn6lFD9">pic.twitter.com/TA9Hn6lFD9</a>
&mdash; Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1939322480314724563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Jeffries was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spin-cycle-how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-mamdani?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News+and+Commentary&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Spin+Cycle%3A+How+Do+You+Solve+A+Problem+Like+Mamdani%3F">hesitant</a> when asked whether he planned to endorse Mamdani, and said his district includes many Jewish Americans.
&#8220;Well, we don&#8217;t really know each other well. Our districts don&#8217;t overlap. I have never had a substantive conversation with him, and so that&#8217;s the next step,&#8221; Jeffries said, adding that he and Mamdani have agreed to sit down and talk.
Meanwhile, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat came out swinging against Mamdani for refusing to condemn the phrase &#8220;globalize the intifada.&#8221;
“New York constituents I talked to are alarmed. They are alarmed by past public statements. They are alarmed about past public positions, referring to global jihad,” Gillibrand <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/26/us-news/ny-dem-reps-suozzi-gillen-distance-from-socialist-nyc-mayoral-nominee-zohran-mamdani/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a WNYC interview on Thursday.
“This is a very serious issue because people who glorify the slaughter of Jews create fear in our communities,” she said. “The global intifada is a statement that means destroy Israel and kill all the Jews.”
Other Democrats weighed in as well.
Rep. Laura Gillen, a freshman Democrat representing Long Island who is known as a centrist, <a href="https://time.com/7298136/zohran-mamdani-nyc-laura-gillen/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Mamdani of “a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments.”
“He is the absolute wrong choice for New York,” Gillen said.
Mamdani, a New York assemblyman representing Queens, won the Democratic primary last week in an upset that threw the New York City mayor&#8217;s race into chaos. Current Mayor Eric Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo will both likely run as independents, and Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, will face them all as the Republican candidate.
The general election for mayor will be held on November 4.

Celebrity Sightings In New York – June 29, 2025

Dems Slam Zohran Mamdani For Refusing To Condemn ‘Globalize The Intifada’

Dems Slam Zohran Mamdani For Refusing To Condemn 'Globalize The Intifada'

Hakeem Jeffries

Kirsten Gillibrand

Zohran Mamdani, who stunned Democrats when he snagged the party&#8217;s presumptive nomination for New York City mayor this week, lived up to his anti-capitalist reputation on Thursday.
Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, came out swinging against capitalism during a television spot with CNN anchor Erin Burnett.
&#8220;Do you like capitalism?&#8221; Burnett asked the New York state assemblyman, who represents Queens.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CNN: Do you like capitalism?
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: No. I have many critiques of capitalism.
In the words of Dr. King decades ago, he said, &#39;Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism; there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God&#39;s children in this country.&#39;… <a href="https://t.co/iW02E21Qoe">pic.twitter.com/iW02E21Qoe</a>
&mdash; Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/1938448693138501832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
&#8220;No, I have many critiques of capitalism,&#8221; Mamdani responded. &#8220;And I think ultimately the definition for me of why I call myself a democratic socialist is the words of Dr. King decades ago.&#8221;
&#8220;He said, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism, there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God&#8217;s children in this country,&#8221; Mamdani said. &#8220;And that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m focused on is dignity, and taking on income inequality.&#8221;
During a 1961 speech to the Negro American Labor Council, King reportedly <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/martin-luther-king-was-a-radical-not-a-saint/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.”
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In a major upset on Tuesday, Mamdani beat out former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor of the Big Apple.
Cuomo is considering running as an independent in the wake of the shock results.
Current Mayor Eric Adams also launched his reelection campaign as an independent on Thursday at a rowdy rally on the steps of City Hall, where he took a shot at both Mamdani and &#8220;socialism.&#8221;
“This is a city not of socialism,” Adams <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-city-not-of-socialism-eric-adams-takes-shot-at-zohran-mamdani-as-he-launches-reelection-bid?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=‘A+City+Not+Of+Socialism’%3A+Eric+Adams+Takes+Shot+At+Zohran+Mamdani+As+He+Launches+Reelection+Bid">said</a> at his rally. “There’s no dignity in someone giving you everything for free. There’s dignity in giving you a job, so you can provide for your family and the opportunities that you deserve. This is not a city of handouts. This is a city of hands up. We’re going to lift up the City of New York.”
Mamdani has proposed expensive policies including rent freezes, government-run grocery stores, free buses, free city universities, free child care, increasing New York City’s minimum wage to $30 an hour, and investing $65 million in transgender drugs and surgeries.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), another self-described democratic socialist, referenced the same quote from King in 2021, a few days after former President Joe Biden took office.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God&#39;s children.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
&mdash; Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1353101452281962496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, the volunteer group dedicated to crime prevention on New York’s subways and streets since the late 1970s, won the Republican nomination for mayor.
The general election for mayor will be held on November 4.

Mayoral Candidate For New York Zohran Mamdani Holds Primary Election Night Party

Zohran Mamdani Says He Has ‘Many Critiques Of Capitalism’

Andrew Cuomo

Capitalism

Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is set to launch her campaign for New York governor, giving Republicans new hope of flipping the traditionally deep blue Empire State, two sources familiar with Stefanik&#8217;s thinking told The Hill.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not a matter of if, it&#8217;s a matter of when,&#8221; one source close to Stefanik <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5371832-stefanik-prepares-launch-governor-race/">told</a> The Hill, noting that the congresswoman will announce &#8220;at the time and place&#8221; of her choosing.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Stefanik has been considering a run in recent months, following President Trump&#8217;s decision to withdraw her nomination to serve as U.N. ambassador, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stepping-up-as-a-team-stefanik-reacts-after-trump-withdraws-nomination">deeming</a> it too risky to put her competitive district up for an open election ahead of Trump&#8217;s push for his &#8220;big, beautiful bill.&#8221;
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RUN <a href="https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EliseStefanik</a> RUN!! <a href="https://t.co/EJu4v6jz2n">https://t.co/EJu4v6jz2n</a>
&mdash; Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1938350682106458604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Stefanik was the number four Republican in the House, serving as Chair of the House Republican Conference after replacing former Rep. Liz Cheney, before being briefly nominated as U.N. ambassador.
Polling indicates strong support for the Trump ally, with a GrayHouse survey showing Stefanik commanding 44% among Republican primary voters compared to just 7% for Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and 5% for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, both of whom received Trump endorsements for reelection to their current positions last month.
Republicans have reason for optimism in the traditionally Democratic stronghold, as the GOP has made significant gains in recent elections.
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Trump lost New York by just over 12 points in 2024, a dramatic 11-point <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-the-nation-told-us-in-2024-state-by-state/">improvement</a> from his 2020 performance, while current Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul defeated Republican challenger Lee Zeldin by only 6 points in her 2022 race. However, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report still considers the upcoming gubernatorial contest &#8220;likely Democratic.&#8221;
Stefanik, 41, has risen quickly through the Republican ranks since first being elected to Congress in 2014 at the age of 30 – at that time, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Her national profile grew significantly during former President Trump&#8217;s first impeachment proceedings, when she emerged as one of his most vocal defenders.
Republicans have been increasingly competitive in parts of New York, particularly in Long Island and Hudson Valley districts that helped the party secure a narrow House majority in 2022. Economic concerns, rising crime rates, and migration issues have become prominent topics that GOP candidates have successfully leveraged to win local races.
Stefanik&#8217;s run would come after socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday&#8217;s Democratic mayoral primary, inciting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/billionaire-pledges-to-bankroll-any-nyc-mayoral-candidate-who-can-beat-zohran-mamdani?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Billionaire+Pledges+To+Bankroll+Any+NYC+Mayoral+Candidate+Who+Can+Beat+Zohran+Mamdani">panic</a> among many in the city and providing a fruitful target for the New York Representative.
Mamdani, a state assemblyman representing parts of Queens, has championed policies that alarm fiscal conservatives and moderate Democrats alike. His <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-top-five-craziest-policy-proposals-from-nyc-mayor-candidates?author=Catherine+Maxwell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Here+Are+The+Top+Five+Craziest+Policy+Proposals+From+NYC+Mayor+Candidates">platform</a> includes advocating for city-owned supermarkets, rent freezing measures, and significant reallocations of police funding to social services.
Stefanik would likely face incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul in the 2026 general election.
Hochul, who took office in 2021 following Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s resignation amid sexual harassment allegations, has faced criticism over her handling of crime and the state&#8217;s high cost of living, issues that could provide an opening for Republicans to make further inroads with New York voters.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Worst Governor in America Kathy Hochul desperately tries to distance herself from the Defund the Police, raging antisemite Communist except Kathy refuses to denounce any of his insane Marxist policies. She OWNS this catastrophic candidate who will destroy NYC. 
Kathy Hochul… <a href="https://t.co/ifBXhTFEGx">https://t.co/ifBXhTFEGx</a>
&mdash; Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) <a href="https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1938308720230105133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Stefanik/Hochul

Elise Stefanik Set To Challenge Hochul For New York Governor

2026 Midterms

Elise Stefanik

Kathy Hochul

Zohran Mamdani, the socialist who is the Democratic nominee in New York City’s mayoral race, wants to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
Mamdani, a far-left 33-year-old Muslim who became an American citizen in 2018, detailed his plan in a <a href="https://pdfhost.io/v/sTRKnd9Qtc_Homeowner_Policy_Memo">policy memo</a> that insists “the cityʼs property tax system favors wealthier homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods.” According to the campaign document, Mamdani wants to lower the tax burden for homeowners in lower-income neighborhoods while &#8220;raising the amount paid in the most expensive Brooklyn brownstones.”
Mamdani&#8217;s proposal to target &#8220;whiter neighborhoods&#8221; is one of many radical policy objectives, along with city-owned grocery stores, defunding the police, and freezing rent. The leftist state assemblyman has drawn the ire of Republicans and moderates across the country.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) even called for Mamdani to be stripped of his American citizenship in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying the Democratic socialist expressed support for foreign terror organizations, a reference to Mamdani&#8217;s self-professed &#8220;love&#8221; for a group of individuals convicted of funneling money to Hamas.
“Zohran ‘little muhammad’ Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York,” Ogles said as he <a href="https://x.com/RepOgles/status/1938301392416084150">shared the letter</a> to Bondi on social media. “He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.”
New York billionaire Bill Ackman has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/billionaire-pledges-to-bankroll-any-nyc-mayoral-candidate-who-can-beat-zohran-mamdani?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Billionaire+Pledges+To+Bankroll+Any+NYC+Mayoral+Candidate+Who+Can+Beat+Zohran+Mamdani">pledged</a> millions of dollars to the effort to stop Mamdani from being elected. “There are hundreds of millions of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight,” the Pershing Square Capital founder and CEO said.
Mamdani came out ahead of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset victory in the Democratic primary and is now set to face off against incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in November&#8217;s general election.

Socialist NYC Mayoral Candidate Wants To Hit ‘Whiter Neighborhoods’ With Higher Taxes

Socialism

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic socialist candidate for mayor of New York, said on Thursday that he understood economics better than billionaire Bill Ackman, arguing that Ackman’s opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies was bad for business.
In the wake of Mamdani’s victory Tuesday night in the Democratic primary over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Ackman had stated of Mamdani on X:
<blockquote>
 &#8230; his policies would be disastrous for NYC. Socialism has no place in the economic capital of our country. The ability for NYC to offer services for the poor and needy, let alone the average New Yorker, is entirely dependent on NYC being a business-friendly environment and a place where wealthy residents are willing to spend 183 days and assume the associated tax burden. Unfortunately, both have already started making arrangements for the exits.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I awoke this morning gravely concerned about New York City. I thought “What has NYC become that an avowed socialist who has supported defunding the police, whose solution to lowering food prices is city-owned supermarkets, who doesn’t understand that freezing rents will only…
&mdash; Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1938094628034506984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Asked by Erin Burnett of CNN about his insistence that New York City raise the top corporate tax rate, Mamdani preached, “I&#8217;d also tell Bill Ackman that I firmly disagree with his attempt to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion across the country because it&#8217;s not only against the morals of so many, it&#8217;s also against the actual bottom line for so many businesses. And as a businessman, he should understand that.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Socialist Zohran Mamdani lectures billionaire <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BillAckman</a> on the business case for DEI.
Oh, this is rich.
“I’d also tell Bill Ackman that I firmly disagree with his attempt to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion across the country. Because it’s not only against the morals… <a href="https://t.co/az5x2XOjaH">pic.twitter.com/az5x2XOjaH</a>
&mdash; The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) <a href="https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1938421381789577432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Mamdani, 33, a state assemblyman who grew up the privileged son of “acclaimed Marxist scholar Mahmood Mamdani and Oscar-nominated film director Mira Nair,” as The Indypendent <a href="https://indypendent.org/2020/06/home-foreclosure-specialist-aims-to-take-the-fight-for-housing-racial-justice-from-astoria-to-albany/">reported</a>, attended Bowdoin College, where he <a href="https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Zohran-K-Mamdani">co-founded</a> the school&#8217;s chapter of the radical activist group, Students for Justice in Palestine. His entire job history outside of politics has consisted of working as a foreclosure prevention counselor and a rapper.
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Ackman, by contrast, has invested in businesses so successfully that he is now <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/william-ackman/">worth</a> an estimated $9 billion. He is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, committing to donate at least 50% of his wealth by the end of his life to charitable causes. The resident of New York City was a lifelong Democrat who crossed the aisle to support President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
New York Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent this mayoral election cycle, slammed Mamdani, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/26/us-news/eric-adams-officially-kicks-off-nyc-mayoral-campaign-with-swipes-at-zohran-mamdani-blue-collar-or-silver-spoon/">saying</a>, “This election is a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a soup silver spoon. A choice between dirty fingernails and manicured nails. &#8230; This is not a city where you use idealism to stake your giving everything to everyone for free. There&#8217;s no dignity in someone giving you everything for free. There&#8217;s dignity in giving you a job so you can provide for your family and the opportunities that you deserve. So, this is not a city of handouts. This is a city of hands up.”
Mamdani also issued a statement blasting President Trump, stating, “Zohran Mamdani will fight Trump&#8217;s attempts to gouge the working class, and deliver a city where everyone can afford a dignified life. Here&#8217;s how: Make NYC the Strongest Sanctuary City in the Country.”
After asserting his desire to “Get ICE out of all City facilities and end any cooperation,” the statement continued, “The Mamdani administration will:  Invest $165M in funding for immigration legal defense services . &#8230; Protect all personal data from other jurisdictions: The Mamdani administration will take seriously the threat Trump poses and will think expansively about ways to protect undocumented New Yorkers from deportation or other federal attacks.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: This is the memo that could be Zohran Mamdani’s downfall.
He wants to triple down on making NYC a Sanctuary City and crack down on ICE.
These two policies are extremely unpopular with New Yorkers, especially the middle class. <a href="https://t.co/EuvdjFUyhH">pic.twitter.com/EuvdjFUyhH</a>
&mdash; Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) <a href="https://twitter.com/DougMackeyCase/status/1938235458607018356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Other actions by Mamdani have also elicited harsh criticism:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Remember back in 2013 when two Islamist terrorists used a meat cleaver to try to behead British soldier Lee Rigby in the streets of London?
Zohran shared a 2013 article by Glenn Greenwald questioning whether the killing was terrorism because Rigby was a soldier <a href="https://t.co/F5eMdFQo9i">pic.twitter.com/F5eMdFQo9i</a>
&mdash; Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewPavlou/status/1938506747939066063?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Mamdani/Ackman

Socialist NYC Mayoral Candidate Lectures Billionaire, Claims DEI Critics Don’t Understand Business

Democratic Socialism

Socialists

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman vowed on Wednesday to provide &#8220;hundreds of millions of dollars&#8221; to back any viable challenger against Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City&#8217;s mayoral race.
Mamdani <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/andrew-cuomo-falls-to-radical-socialist-zohran-mamdani-in-nyc-mayoral-primary?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Rice&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Andrew+Cuomo+Falls+To+Radical+Socialist+Zohran+Mamdani+In+NYC+Mayoral+Primary">defeated</a> former Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City&#8217;s Democratic primary on Tuesday and will compete against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams (running as an independent this cycle) and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the November general election.
Ackman, founder and chief executive of hedge fund manager Pershing Square Capital, <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/politics/billionaire-bill-ackman-promises-millions-to-anyone-willing-to-challenge-mamdani-for-nyc-mayor/">wrote</a> a lengthy post on X to express his alarm at Mamdani’s victory.
&#8220;I awoke this morning gravely concerned about New York City,&#8221; Ackman wrote. &#8220;I thought &#8216;What has NYC become that an avowed socialist who has supported defunding the police, whose solution to lowering food prices is city-owned supermarkets, who doesn&#8217;t understand that freezing rents will only make apartments scarcer and more expensive in the long run.'&#8221;
The billionaire investor compared a potential Mamdani-led New York to &#8220;another failed major city run by Democrats alongside Seattle, Chicago, LA, and SF,&#8221; quoting Senator John Fetterman&#8217;s (D-PA) assessment that Mamdani&#8217;s victory represented &#8220;Christmas in July for the GOP.&#8221;
&#8220;A mayor who disrespects the NYPD and has called for their defunding will get less effective policing, and Bratton&#8217;s &#8216;broken window theory&#8217; will operate in reverse,&#8221; Ackman wrote, warning that New York City would become &#8220;much more dangerous and economically unviable&#8221; under Mamdani&#8217;s administration.
Ackman assured potential candidates that funding would be instantly available, stating, &#8220;there are hundreds of million of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight,&#8221; and adding that he is &#8220;in the text strings and the WhatsApp groups&#8221; organizing the effort.
The financier noted that any challenger would likely need to run as a write-in candidate, but suggested this could become &#8220;an important call to action that brings people in throngs to the polls&#8221; rather than a disadvantage.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I awoke this morning gravely concerned about New York City. I thought “What has NYC become that an avowed socialist who has supported defunding the police, whose solution to lowering food prices is city-owned supermarkets, who doesn’t understand that freezing rents will only…
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1938094628034506984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
New York City, with a gross metropolitan <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NGMP35620">product</a> of $2.3 trillion and a population exceeding 8 million residents, is America&#8217;s financial nerve center. Many on Wall Street reacted with dread following Mamdani’s primary win, and <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/23/us-news/nyc-biz-leaders-left-shaking-over-prospect-of-zohran-mamdani-mayoral-win-it-would-be-disastrous/">predicted</a> a mass exodus from the city if he is elected in November.
Mamdani, a state assemblyman representing parts of Queens, has championed policies that alarm fiscal conservatives and moderate Democrats alike. His <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-top-five-craziest-policy-proposals-from-nyc-mayor-candidates?author=Catherine+Maxwell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Here+Are+The+Top+Five+Craziest+Policy+Proposals+From+NYC+Mayor+Candidates">platform</a> includes advocating for city-owned supermarkets, rent freezing measures, and significant reallocations of police funding to social services.
Ackman expressed particular concern about Mamdani&#8217;s stance on Israel, noting that &#8220;a mayor who condones hate speech will incentivize more hate speech and violence,&#8221; adding that &#8220;words matter, and yes, they can inspire people to kill as we have recently tragically seen in our country and around the world.&#8221;
Mamdani has stated that he doesn’t believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, refused to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada,” and recorded a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/21/us-news/socialist-nyc-mayoral-candidate-zohran-mamdani-once-rapped-about-his-love-for-hamas-teror-funding-group-holy-land-five/">rap song</a> expressing “love” to convicted Hamas financiers. His October 7 statement notably focused on “ending the occupation” with little mention of Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians.
Ackman suggested that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg might play a significant role in any challenge to Mamdani, stating that he was &#8220;sure that Mike Bloomberg will share his how-to-win-the-mayoralty IP and deliver his entire election apparatus and system to the aspiring candidate.&#8221;
The investor called on his followers to &#8220;crowdsource&#8221; potential candidate names and conduct polling to identify the most viable challenger.

US-POLITICS-ECONOMY-MILKEN

Billionaire Pledges To Bankroll Any NYC Mayoral Candidate Who Can Beat Zohran Mamdani

Wall Street

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