Mamdani’s Mandate and Trump’s Big Ugly Bill

To appreciate how panicked conservatives are about Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary and the subsequent wave of support he has received from “traditional” Democratic organizations after he devastated Andrew Cuomo—whose idea of running as an independent now seems stillborn—one need only check out the vitriol coming from the right.

Trump’s reaction was predictable. In his usual measured tones, our duly elected president called the presumptive mayor of the nation’s largest city, “a pure communist,” “a lunatic,” and “a nut job.” Trump threatened to arrest and deport him, despite the fact that Mamdani, born in Uganda to Indian parents, became an American citizen in 2018. He also threatened to cut off funds to New York City if Mamdani “doesn’t behave himself.” The nation would be a lot worse off if New York City cut off funds to Washington.

Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles, another voice of reason and moderation in the Republican Party, also thinks Mamdani can be stripped of his citizenship and deported because he may have concealed his support for “terrorism” during the naturalization process.

Those responses were predictable, as was harsh criticism from the Wall Street Journal. What was surprising was how cheap their attacks were. For example, in one article, “Zohran Mamdani’s Skinny-Tie Socialism,” the subtitle was, “The Democratic nominee for mayor has radical ideas—but a strategically conventional wardrobe.” How deceitful of him! Most of the criticism was aimed at Mamdani’s policies, which WSJ laughably contends will hurt the poor, but made sure to add that he “represents a crude brand of anti-Israel rhetoric more common in the so-called Global South.” That, of course, is not only dog-whistle racist but also taps into the antipathy many Jews expressed for a Muslim candidate condemning Israel’s excesses in Gaza. It does not explain, however, why so many Jews in New York voted for him.

The problem with the ferocity of the attacks on Mamdani’s proposals and his religion—which is matched by equal jubilation among his supporters—is that it blurs what is the most crucial aspect of his victory.

How he did it.

His was not a traditional campaign, although it used to be. Mamdani, young, fresh, and energetic, with a heavy dose of charisma, “took his campaign to the streets and asked questions.” He focused on what are called kitchen-table issues, most involving cost of living and government services. Many of his specifics seemed far-fetched, like free buses and childcare and a rent freeze, but they struck a chord with New Yorkers sick of watching the rich get richer while they struggle to stay afloat. An army of volunteers flocked to his campaign and knocked on tens of thousands of doors. He was being vastly outspent by Cuomo, his main opponent, who was expected by most experts—and himself—to waltz into the nomination, but Mamdani didn’t care, convinced that his attacks on privilege and defense of the middle class was a winning formula.

In a video he made after the primary, Mamdani described his campaign as “relentlessly focused on the needs of working people,” and that he wanted to “rebuild a coalition that had frayed over years of disappointment and neglect.”

Which is exactly what he did.

In 2024, New York City saw some of the biggest shifts to Trump in the nation, most of them in working class and immigrant neighborhoods, but Mamdani brought voters back. Brighton Beach, for example, went for Trump by 44 points but Mamdani won it by 16. College Point, another blue-collar neighborhood went from Trump by 11 to Mamdani by 8. He flipped Crown Heights, which has a large Jewish population, by 45 points over the previous election, and Jamaica, with many Black and immigrant voters, by 57. He attracted huge numbers of new registrants, many of them young. Significantly, he won in Latino and Chinese neighborhoods, where Trump had made his biggest gains.

This is the sort of victory Democrats have been begging for, one where voters who had defected to Trump returned to the party that gave them Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, school lunches, low-cost home loans, and disaster assistance—all things that Trump will either take away or try to diminish.

It is sad, then, that all too many either decry Mamdani’s victory or minimize it because he calls himself a “democratic socialist.” What if instead we merely changed that label and gave him a new one?

Left-wing populist.

In an interview during Trump’s first term, Steve Bannon spoke highly of another self-described democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders. “I could have backed him,” Bannon claimed, “because he’s a populist.” Although populism has become a dirty word among Democrats, Sanders and AOC have received raucous receptions during speaking engagements across the nation, many in Trump neighborhoods, by proposing just the sort of policies Mamdani did and Republicans oppose.

And there is an enormous opportunity here because right-wing populism, which swept the Republicans to a landslide victory, is a fraud.

Nothing epitomizes how ludicrous is Trump’s brand of populism than his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which will only be beautiful if you are rich, will never need affordable medical care, do not mind if you cannot pay for your child’s college education, and will be more than happy to fork over a lot more for your fruits, vegetables, and food in restaurants.

This bill is so toxic that dozens and dozens of Republican congresspeople would fiercely oppose it if not for the risk of irritating their lord-and-master. It balloons the national debt, hands huge tax breaks to the super-wealthy, denudes the very programs many Trump voters rely on, and is as contemptuous of working-class needs as Trump almost surely is in private.

It is time, then, for Democrats to forget Mamdani’s religion and proposals specific to New York—but not his youth and energy—and charge into the opening that Trump and his band of quaking-jelly followers have so thoughtfully provided for them.

Mamdani has given them the roadmap. It is only a question of following it.