Zohran Mamdani’s win in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary shocked everyone. In February, he was polling at 1%. By June, he got more primary votes than any candidate for NYC mayor in history. Since then, there’s been an outpouring of excitement and support for his campaign across the country.
The ruling class started attacking Zohran as soon as he announced he was running. Since his primary victory, they’ve doubled down on the lies and slander. The RCA stands totally against the establishment’s red baiting and fear mongering! To fight the smears, Zohran must treat the capitalists and their hangers-on as what they are: the class enemy. He should break completely with them—starting with their Democratic Party.
Panic in “The Capital of Capitalism”
Trump called Zohran a “100% Communist Lunatic” and threatened to arrest him if he tried to prevent ICE from terrorizing immigrants in New York. The New York Post has been full of sensationalist headlines, including “Scamdani” and “Mamdani’s Anti-cop Zealotry Means Crime and Chaos for NYC.” Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal asks, “Want Soviet Bread Lines? Vote for Zohran Mamdani.” Add to this a slew of baseless accusations of antisemitism due to Zohran’s criticism of Israel.
New York City’s capitalists are panicking. The day after the primary, they huddled for several “emergency” meetings to discuss potential strategies to defeat him. They want to coalesce around either Eric Adams, the disgraced Democratic incumbent, or Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced Democratic ex-governor trounced by Zohran in the primary. Both are running as independents in November, alongside Republican Curtis Sliwa and Jim Walden, another independent. These four—who Walden refers to as the “free-market candidates”—are all about as popular as COVID 19 was in the year 2020.
Scott Rechler, one of NYC’s biggest landlords—who supported Cuomo in the primary—said he’d support Adams over Mamdani: “You want to have leadership that speaks to what New York is. It’s the capital of capitalism.”
Conservative commentator Jason Riley suggested following the “Buffalo blueprint,” referring to India Walton. Walton is a DSA member who won the Buffalo Democratic mayoral primary in 2021, but was defeated in a write-in campaign by the Democratic incumbent in the general election. Riley called for rallying around Adams or Cuomo, calling Zohran “a far graver threat to New York … than his flawed rivals.”
Attacks from the Democrats
Most notable are the attacks on Zohran coming from within the Democratic Party. The party’s establishment is desperately strategizing to try to defeat their own nominee.
For years, they demanded that supporters of Bernie Sanders and other such candidates “vote blue no matter who.” Now that their preferred candidate lost, they’ve changed their tune and are willing to do whatever is necessary to defeat Zohran.
Many establishment Democrats would rather support a scandal-ridden, corrupt defender of capitalism running as an independent—which describes both Adams and Cuomo—than a self-described socialist with an army of enthusiastic volunteers running on their own ballot line.
Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager and long-time Democratic donor, attended one of the capitalists’ post-primary emergency meetings. He called Zohran “totally unqualified” and a “Trojan horse” for “extremist, dangerous ideology.” Tilson once called for Adam’s removal from office. Now his allegiances have shifted: “The question is, who can stop him? One option is Mayor Adams.”
“All I know is that Mamdani must be stopped,” said Democratic political consultant Hank Shenkopf in the Wall Street Journal. Lauren Gillen, a Democratic congresswoman, said that Zohran is “too extreme” and “the absolute wrong choice.” Tom Suozzi, another congressional Democrat, wrote an anti-Zohran op-ed in the Journal titled “For Democrats, Mamdani is a Wake-Up Call—And a Bad Example.”
David Paterson, a former Democratic governor, said of Mamdani, “If he’s the cure to what ails the party, then cyanide is the cure for a headache.” Meanwhile, current New York Governor Kathy Hochul has already hinted that she will pledge to block the tax increases Mamdani proposes to fund much of his program.
“Their hair is on fire”
A section of the ruling class is dead set on keeping Mamdani out of office. They’re terrified of what his primary victory represents: the boiling anger against the Democratic establishment—backed by tens of thousands of volunteers willing to fight.
To be sure, Zohran’s program doesn’t challenge the capitalists’ profits or power. What they are afraid of is his emboldened base. They fear any section of the working class feeling optimistic, united, and mobilized for a struggle. They cannot tolerate a mass appetite for reforms at a time when the system is incapable of delivering them.
They’re also afraid of losing a certain degree of control over the Democratic Party. Zohran has supporters far beyond New York City. A win in NYC could unleash a wave of similar anti-establishment primary challenges around the country.
In an Axios interview, one Democratic congressperson described a mood of panic in Washington: “You’ll see about 30% of members face primary challenges. People have anxiety … Their hair is on fire.”
The Democratic Party is and will remain a party of, by, and for the capitalists. But the crystallization of a left-populist wing would make things more complicated for them. After Trump’s takeover of the Republicans, the Democratic Party is the main pillar of political stability that the capitalists can rely on. They’re desperate to hold onto it.
Currently, they exert their influence in the party without the slightest resistance. They want to keep it that way. They want a party led by people they can fully rely on, rather than having to deal with subduing an anti-establishment wing.
Break with the Democrats!
This is only the beginning. Attacks on Zohran will intensify over the course of his campaign and potential mayorship. In addition to full-frontal attacks, the ruling class will put enormous pressure on him behind closed doors.
But another wing of the Democratic establishment is already lining up to support him. Congressman Jerry Nadler endorsed him, alongside the Manhattan and Brooklyn Democratic machines. But these aren’t his friends. They want to “build a relationship” with him in order to pressure him more easily in the future. If they can’t beat him outright, they’ll move might and main to fully co-opt him.
Communists oppose the ruling class’s cynical and deceitful attacks on Zohran. If he breaks from the Democrats, we will enthusiastically support him, while voicing comradely criticism of his limited political program.