Comedian Bill Maher sparred Friday with one of his guests, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., when the lawmaker dismissed criticism of New York City’s Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as a “contrived villain or boogeyman.”
“He’s not contrived. He’s gonna be the mayor of New York,” Maher argued.
The late-night show host cited Mamdani’s “Marxist” positions, such as the “abolition of private property,” after he declared that the Big Apple has “never had someone this radical.”
“There’s a lot of opposition [to Mamdani] because we’ve never had someone this radical,” Maher warned. “Some of the things he says, you know he quotes Marxists, ‘each according to their need.’ I mean, that’s straight up Communism.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Crow maintained that a “boogeyman” like Mamdani comes around every election cycle for Republicans.
“They always try to create a villain is my point,” he said. “They always try to create some boogeyman or bogeywoman.”
“No, these are quotes. I’m not creating anything, I’m quoting [Mamdani],” Maher debated.
The comedian’s second guest, columnist James Kirchick, did not hesitate to chime in about the criticism Mamdani has received from conservatives.
“Everything that the crazy far-right alleged about Obama – wasn’t born in America, Islamist, socialist, antisemite, hates America, it’s all true about this guy [Mamdani],” Kirchick claimed.
Kirchick went on to describe what he finds the “most appalling” about Mamdani.
“He defends the expression ‘globalize the intifada,’ which explicitly means – and I don’t wanna hear anyone deny this – it means kill Jews whenever and wherever you can find them,” Kirchick added.
The “Secret City” author hit both sides of the political aisle, comparing Democrats who are not refusing to endorse Mamdani to Republicans 10 years ago, who were “letting Trump go on and on and they weren’t standing up to him.”
“I feel with this guy we’re seeing the same sort of cowardice and spinelessness,” Kirchick asserted.
In July, the New York Times reported that Mamdani told a group of business leaders he would not use the phrase “globalize the intifada,” and he would “discourage” others from using it.
The American Pulse polling firm conducted a survey in July, in which it found that 30% of New York City voters support Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” and his backing of the anti-Israel boycott movement.
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