On paper, Indian-American politician Zohran Mamdani checks every box on US President Donald Trump ’s list of what’s wrong with America. He is a Muslim, brown, proudly socialist, and a walking rejection of every American ideal the right clings to with MAGA-red knuckles. “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” Mamdani called himself on the trail. But ask Republican strategists what they think of his victory, and you’ll hear a different story: they’re thrilled.
Mamdani’s upset win over former governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary has energized progressives and panicked centrists-but perhaps no one is as gleeful as the GOP. For months, Republicans have been searching for the perfect avatar of the “radical Left.” Now, in Mamdani, they believe they’ve found him.
“The single most effective foil for Republicans nationally,” Rep Elise Stefanik told CNN. “You couldn’t script it better.”
Trump himself wasted no time branding Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” on Fox News, suggesting he’d cut off federal funding to New York City if Mamdani becomes mayor. It wasn’t just a threat. It was a signal: this man will be the GOP’s bogeyman in 2026 and beyond.
The symbol the GOP needed
Mamdani is not the fringe figure Republicans would have had to invent. He’s the real thing. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he wants rent freezes, city-run supermarkets, and free buses. He supports the BDS movement and has refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”-language many Jewish New Yorkers see as violent. He’s criticized Israel’s war in Gaza and once said he’d have Netanyahu arrested if he set foot in New York.
That last part alone might be worth millions in Republican fundraising emails.
For a GOP eager to paint the entire Democratic Party as captured by the far Left, Mamdani is the perfect proof point. He’s not a coastal consultant whispering about policy. He’s the possible next mayor of the largest city in America-and his critics say he wants to reshape it in the image of a Brooklyn food co-op crossed with Havana circa 1962.
The more Democrats embrace him, the easier it becomes for Republicans to argue that the party is out of touch with Middle America.
“He’s pure communist,” Trump said. “It’s very bad for New York.” But maybe good for Trump.
The Democrats’ dilemma
It’s a problem the Democratic Party can’t ignore. Mamdani is not just a leftist curiosity. He’s charismatic, savvy, and-unlike many Democratic hopefuls-he won. And not just in downtown Brooklyn. He flipped areas that Trump carried in 2024, including parts of Staten Island and Queens. “He’s run a really smart messaging campaign,” Jesse Arm of the Manhattan Institute told the Economist. “It’s not just about ideology. It’s about talent.”
His message-affordability, dignity, housing-resonated far beyond the activist base. Mamdani’s campaign mobilized an estimated 46,000 volunteers. They didn’t just tweet. They knocked on doors, hit subway stops, and turned out voters who had never before shown up to a primary.
“He connected,” Reverend Al Sharpton told the Atlantic. “Democrats need to keep showing up.”
But that connection may come at a cost. Many Jewish Democrats are unsettled by Mamdani’s views on Israel and his refusal to distance himself from phrases they associate with violence. The Anti-Defamation League has called out his rhetoric. State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand publicly asked him to disavow the “global intifada” slogan. He declined.
“This is the end of Jewish New York as we know it,” Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told the AP. He predicts a coming exodus of religious Jews and a loss of influence in the city’s progressive circles.
And yet Mamdani also drew support from a number of Jewish progressives, including Jewish Voice for Peace Action and city comptroller Brad Lander. “This is not in spite of his support for Palestinian rights,” Beth Miller of JVP Action told reporters. “It is because of it.”
What’s happening in New York is a preview of the national Democratic identity crisis: can a party split between suburban moderates and city-based leftists find common ground-or at least a common messenger?
How he won
That Mamdani made it this far is, in itself, a shock. When he entered the race in October, he polled under 1%. Cuomo, for all his baggage, had name recognition, establishment support, and deep pockets. What he didn’t have was energy. Mamdani had that in spades.
He launched what the Atlantic called “an invigorated, modern campaign,” showing up everywhere, walking the entire length of Manhattan on foot, and running a TikTok-optimized operation that made him the most visible candidate in the race. Voters weren’t just choosing a mayor; they were joining a movement.
The slogan was simple: affordability. Freeze the rent. Free the bus. Feed the people. And it worked. Mamdani flipped neighborhoods that had previously gone for Trump, not by hiding who he was, but by showing up-and listening.
His background helped. Born in Uganda to Indian parents, the son of a post-colonial scholar and a renowned Indian filmmaker, Mamdani has the kind of biography that makes him a symbol of the city’s future. He speaks multiple languages. He rapped under the name Mr Cardamom. And he understands the immigrant hustle in a way that feels earned, not manufactured.
What happens next
The general election in November won’t be a walk in the Central Park. Eric Adams, the scandal-scarred incumbent, is running as an independent. Curtis Sliwa, a far-right Republican and former Guardian Angel, is back on the ballot. Cuomo may yet jump back in.
But even if Mamdani wins, the bigger story is what he represents: a generational realignment inside the Democratic Party-and a narrative goldmine for the GOP. For Republicans, he’s not just the mayor of New York. He’s the face of the Democrats. Every proposal he floats will be repackaged and used against swing-state Senate candidates in 2026.
A double-edged victory
For now, Mamdani is forging ahead. He’s vowed to defend New York’s sanctuary city status. He’s leaned into the attacks, telling Meet the Press, “The president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from… because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for.”
If he wins in November, it will be a first: first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor, and the youngest in the city’s history. But it will also test whether the Left’s vision can govern without becoming the right’s favorite scare story.
Mamdani says he wants to make New York more livable for working people. Trump wants to make Mamdani the face of the new Democratic Party.
In their own ways, they both might get exactly what they want.
(With inputs from agencies)
Mamdani’s upset win over former governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary has energized progressives and panicked centrists-but perhaps no one is as gleeful as the GOP. For months, Republicans have been searching for the perfect avatar of the “radical Left.” Now, in Mamdani, they believe they’ve found him.
“The single most effective foil for Republicans nationally,” Rep Elise Stefanik told CNN. “You couldn’t script it better.”
Trump himself wasted no time branding Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” on Fox News, suggesting he’d cut off federal funding to New York City if Mamdani becomes mayor. It wasn’t just a threat. It was a signal: this man will be the GOP’s bogeyman in 2026 and beyond.
The symbol the GOP needed
Mamdani is not the fringe figure Republicans would have had to invent. He’s the real thing. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he wants rent freezes, city-run supermarkets, and free buses. He supports the BDS movement and has refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”-language many Jewish New Yorkers see as violent. He’s criticized Israel’s war in Gaza and once said he’d have Netanyahu arrested if he set foot in New York.
That last part alone might be worth millions in Republican fundraising emails.
For a GOP eager to paint the entire Democratic Party as captured by the far Left, Mamdani is the perfect proof point. He’s not a coastal consultant whispering about policy. He’s the possible next mayor of the largest city in America-and his critics say he wants to reshape it in the image of a Brooklyn food co-op crossed with Havana circa 1962.
The more Democrats embrace him, the easier it becomes for Republicans to argue that the party is out of touch with Middle America.
“He’s pure communist,” Trump said. “It’s very bad for New York.” But maybe good for Trump.
The Democrats’ dilemma
It’s a problem the Democratic Party can’t ignore. Mamdani is not just a leftist curiosity. He’s charismatic, savvy, and-unlike many Democratic hopefuls-he won. And not just in downtown Brooklyn. He flipped areas that Trump carried in 2024, including parts of Staten Island and Queens. “He’s run a really smart messaging campaign,” Jesse Arm of the Manhattan Institute told the Economist. “It’s not just about ideology. It’s about talent.”
His message-affordability, dignity, housing-resonated far beyond the activist base. Mamdani’s campaign mobilized an estimated 46,000 volunteers. They didn’t just tweet. They knocked on doors, hit subway stops, and turned out voters who had never before shown up to a primary.
“He connected,” Reverend Al Sharpton told the Atlantic. “Democrats need to keep showing up.”
But that connection may come at a cost. Many Jewish Democrats are unsettled by Mamdani’s views on Israel and his refusal to distance himself from phrases they associate with violence. The Anti-Defamation League has called out his rhetoric. State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand publicly asked him to disavow the “global intifada” slogan. He declined.
“This is the end of Jewish New York as we know it,” Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told the AP. He predicts a coming exodus of religious Jews and a loss of influence in the city’s progressive circles.
And yet Mamdani also drew support from a number of Jewish progressives, including Jewish Voice for Peace Action and city comptroller Brad Lander. “This is not in spite of his support for Palestinian rights,” Beth Miller of JVP Action told reporters. “It is because of it.”
What’s happening in New York is a preview of the national Democratic identity crisis: can a party split between suburban moderates and city-based leftists find common ground-or at least a common messenger?
How he won
That Mamdani made it this far is, in itself, a shock. When he entered the race in October, he polled under 1%. Cuomo, for all his baggage, had name recognition, establishment support, and deep pockets. What he didn’t have was energy. Mamdani had that in spades.
He launched what the Atlantic called “an invigorated, modern campaign,” showing up everywhere, walking the entire length of Manhattan on foot, and running a TikTok-optimized operation that made him the most visible candidate in the race. Voters weren’t just choosing a mayor; they were joining a movement.
The slogan was simple: affordability. Freeze the rent. Free the bus. Feed the people. And it worked. Mamdani flipped neighborhoods that had previously gone for Trump, not by hiding who he was, but by showing up-and listening.
His background helped. Born in Uganda to Indian parents, the son of a post-colonial scholar and a renowned Indian filmmaker, Mamdani has the kind of biography that makes him a symbol of the city’s future. He speaks multiple languages. He rapped under the name Mr Cardamom. And he understands the immigrant hustle in a way that feels earned, not manufactured.
What happens next
The general election in November won’t be a walk in the Central Park. Eric Adams, the scandal-scarred incumbent, is running as an independent. Curtis Sliwa, a far-right Republican and former Guardian Angel, is back on the ballot. Cuomo may yet jump back in.
But even if Mamdani wins, the bigger story is what he represents: a generational realignment inside the Democratic Party-and a narrative goldmine for the GOP. For Republicans, he’s not just the mayor of New York. He’s the face of the Democrats. Every proposal he floats will be repackaged and used against swing-state Senate candidates in 2026.
A double-edged victory
For now, Mamdani is forging ahead. He’s vowed to defend New York’s sanctuary city status. He’s leaned into the attacks, telling Meet the Press, “The president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from… because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for.”
If he wins in November, it will be a first: first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor, and the youngest in the city’s history. But it will also test whether the Left’s vision can govern without becoming the right’s favorite scare story.
Mamdani says he wants to make New York more livable for working people. Trump wants to make Mamdani the face of the new Democratic Party.
In their own ways, they both might get exactly what they want.
(With inputs from agencies)
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