US President Donald Trump, who had comfortably defeated his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the recent presidential election and exuded supreme confidence since then, now seems to be rattled by the challenge posed by Democratic candidate for the mayoral election of the crucial New York City, Zohran Mamdani. The President seems so perturbed that months before the election is to be held, he has threatened to cut New York off from federal funds if the favoured mayoral candidate, a democratic socialist, “doesn’t behave himself” should he be elected. On the surface, the verbal war assumes the appearance of the battle between David and Goliath. For it does not make much sense that the mighty US President could launch such a venomous attack on the Democratic mayoral candidate, calling him “a pure Communist” and a “100% Communist lunatic.” A few months ago, no one had even heard of Mamdani outside of local politics, but now he is being lionised and pilloried by some of America’s biggest political players.
In fact, the life story of the 33-year-old Democrat became a big part of his campaign. He was born in Kampala in Uganda to a family of Indian ancestry before he moved to New York at age seven. His mother, Mira Nair, is a well-known Indian American filmmaker who was born in Rourkela, Orissa. His father is Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University who specialises in the study of colonialism.
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Being branded a Communist in the USA is a risky proposition and hence, Mamdani quickly clarified he is not a Communist. But he reaffirmed his commitment to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers while saying he does not think the country should have billionaires. Trump has said if Mamdani wins, “he’s got to do the right thing or they’re not getting any money.” More than $100bn flows to New York City from the federal government through different entities and programmes.
Mamdani has said the President has become so personal in his attack because he wants to distract from what Mamdani is supposedly fighting for. He asserted he is a follower of the US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., who once remarked that there has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of “God’s children in this country.” Mamdani has set out his agenda in clear terms which is to raise taxes on New York’s wealthiest and shift the tax burden from over-taxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighbourhoods. He has claimed his agenda is not driven by race, but is more of an assessment of what neighbourhoods are being under-taxed and what are over-taxed. On the other hand, Republicans have accused him of being a Moslem sympathiser, him being a Moslem first and due to his pro-Palestine views. His critics say he wants to change the future of New York through policies which would benefit immigrant families.
It is significant that becoming the Democrat’s nominee means the New York progressives now have something to be hopeful about. Since the defeat of Kamala Harris in November, the Democratic Party has been in the throes of an identity crisis. Some believe future electoral success lies in embracing the left fringe of the party, others want the centre to hold. With 43.5 per cent of the vote in the first round, Mamdani is now poised to run as the party’s candidate for mayor of New York at the general election on 4 November.
He has said his fight is not just about New York, but about the Democratic Party. His words match the rhetoric of Trump and his party. His victory in the primaries has energised the progressive wing of the Democratic Party which has seized on his success as evidence that a bold left-wing platform can be electorally successful. Mamdani has been promising free buses, rent freezes, stabilised housing and the development of a chain of city-owned grocery stores to bring down the prices of basics.
Perhaps the most contentious issue in this campaign has been his position on Israel and Palestine, despite the New York mayor not having any foreign policy responsibilities. Mamdani, himself a Moslem, has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and practising apartheid. He has even said he would arrest Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the latter visits New York while he is mayor. U.S. Vice President JD Vance has called Mamdani “the new leader of the Democratic Party.” While Mamdani claims he is not anti-Semitic, he embraces the term socialist. If Mamdani succeeds in getting elected as the mayor of New York City, he could become a new face for the Democrats.
