President Donald Trump issued an ominous warning to the democratic socialist who has emerged as one of the top contenders in the race to become New York City mayor.
Trump, a Queens native, went on a fresh rant against Zohran Mamdani on Sunday on the heels of the 33-year-old’s stunning win in the recently concluded Democratic mayoral primary.
“He’s a communist. I think it’s very bad for New York,” Trump told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo. “But let’s say this: If he does get in, I’m going to be president, and he’s going to have to do the right thing, or they’re not getting any money.”
Mamdani pulled off a shocking upset against disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the closely watched primary last week. Mamdani ran on a platform of making New York City affordable for the working class, which won him 43.5 percent of the votes against Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
Trump railed against the fast-rising Democratic star in a Truth Social post after polls closed.
“It’s finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line,” he wrote. “We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous. He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart… Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”
The president doubled down on those insults in his interview with Fox News, branding Mamdani a “radical left lunatic” — his moniker of choice for many of his perceived political enemies.
Mamdani pushed back in a separate Sunday interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, denying that he was a communist.
“I have already started to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from, who I am—ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for,” he shot back.
“When we talk about my politics, I call myself a democratic socialist, in many ways, inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago, who said: ‘Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country,’” Mamdani added.
Asked who he would support for New York City mayor, Trump kept it vague.
“I don’t want to say that because I have a lot of people, a lot of friends,” he said. “I don’t want to get into that. I can tell you this: Whoever’s mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves, or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially.”
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