Zohran Mamdani, the winner of the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, said there should be no billionaires, reinforcing his campaign rhetoric against the wealthiest and most powerful New Yorkers.
Bloomberg News reported that Mamdani said on NBC’s Meet the Press on the 29th, “I don’t think billionaires should exist,” “because, let’s be honest, that’s a lot of money in such an unequal era, and ultimately what we need more is equality across the city, across the state, and across the country.”
Mamdani has increasingly attracted national attention since winning the primary last week. He has stood by his criticism of income inequality in New York, the world’s financial capital, and defended his condemnation of Israeli policies, including the Gaza war. However, he refused to criticize the anti-Semitic slogan “Globalize the Intifada.” Intifada means “Palestinian uprising.”
Trump threatened on the 29th that if Mamdani is elected mayor of New York in November, he will freeze federal funds for the city. Trump said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures program, “Mandani must do the right thing or they won’t get a dime,” and called the 33-year-old New York Democratic congressman a “communist.”
Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, whose district is in Brooklyn, New York City, said, “Our mayoral candidate will have to convince voters that he is ready to actively deal with the rise in anti-Semitism in New York City.”
Many of Mandani’s positions have made business leaders and mainstream Democrats uneasy, including free buses, freezing rent increases, and raising taxes on the rich and businesses. He said he hopes to “work with everyone, including billionaires” to create a fairer city, and promised to “show that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated in this city.”
