New York City voters have elected self-described Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as their next mayor, and his victory speech immediately signaled a sharp leftward turn for the nation’s largest city.
Moments after being declared the winner Tuesday night, the 34-year-old lawmaker opened his remarks by invoking Eugene Debs, one of America’s most infamous radicals.
Debs was convicted of sedition in 1918 for urging resistance to the U.S. draft during World War I.
“I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani said, quoting Debs.
Debs, a far-left labor organizer and early 20th-century socialist who supported the 1917 communist revolution in Russia and drew heavily from Karl Marx, ran for president five times between 1900 and 1920.
He described capitalism as a “monstrous system” and called for a “militant” and “revolutionary” socialist movement.
His citizenship was later restored by Congress in the 1970s.
Mamdani Vows Sweeping Socialist Agenda
Mamdani, who has openly embraced socialism throughout his campaign, promised sweeping new entitlements for New Yorkers.
These plan radical plans include a rent freeze for more than two million residents, communist-style shared housing, free and expanded bus service, and 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.”
His campaign platform also includes creating city-run grocery stores, “expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide,” raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, and “Trump-proofing” the city by limiting cooperation with U.S. 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,” Mamdani told his constituents in NYC, the citadel of capitalism.
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Class Warfare and Identity Politics
Throughout his speech, Mamdani focused heavily on class and identity, portraying his election as a victory for marginalized communities.
“Where the more-than-one-million Muslims know that they belong,” he said.
“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 attacked what he called the “billionaire class,” pledging to raise taxes to fund his promised social 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,” Mamdani 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.”
Trump Responds to Mamdani’s Victory
Mamdani took aim at President Donald Trump during his remarks, calling him a “despot” and urging New Yorkers to resist his administration’s policies.
“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,” Mamdani 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.”
President Trump, who had urged New Yorkers to back former Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, responded on Truth Social ahead of Election Day, warning that a Mamdani administration would devastate the city’s economy.
“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.
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