Zohran Mamdani vs. Capitalism and Islamophobia
Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy as the Democratic nominee for New York City’s next mayor has surely ruffled feathers and exposed the Islamophobic and capitalist nature of the establishment and its influence on American society.
Mamdani’s surprise victory in the Democratic mayoral primary for New York City has stunned the city’s elite. He defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and emerged as the frontrunner in a race that all but guarantees his path to City Hall as the Democratic nominee.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman, won a record-setting primary victory, and unions, grassroots Democratic groups, and savvy elected officials are rushing to support him.
What puzzles many, however, is the unexpected campaign launched by the city’s elite—including the wealthiest and most influential citizens—who are now up in arms against Mamdani. This reflects the true face of American society and those who control it.
Mamdani ran his primary campaign on ideas and proposals to improve the city. But in fact, many of these proposals have been raised before but never implemented.
Nearly all his cost-of-living proposals have already been enacted or attempted in some form in New York or elsewhere in the U.S. Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio froze rents on the city’s stabilized units three times—in 2015, 2016, and 2020. Raising the minimum wage? After a decade of increases approved in Albany, the city’s minimum wage reached $16.50 this year.
Mamdani’s call for free public buses echoes the MTA’s Fair Fares program, which lets low-income New Yorkers ride for half-price. An estimated 3 million hungry New Yorkers already receive 1.6 million government-supplied meals daily through federal SNAP benefits. Opening five government-owned grocery stores (one in each borough) seems more like a modest welfare project.
Mamdani’s threat to tax wealthy New Yorkers also sounds familiar—bills promising exactly that have been introduced repeatedly in Albany for at least a decade but died at the committee stage.
Notably, in 2021, then-mayoral candidate Eric Adams proposed a special tax on ultra-wealthy New Yorkers: “If you make more than $5 million a year, we’re asking you to pay a little more to stabilize our city,” he said—only to drop the idea after taking office.
Meanwhile, business leaders warn that Mamdani’s platform—including city-run grocery stores and a freeze on rents in regulated units—poses a threat to New York’s economic future. Some of the city’s wealthiest business and political power players, in emergency mode, are pouring money into independent groups determined to block his general election victory, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At least one group—New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25—has reportedly raised a $20 million war chest. It’s just one of several anti-Mamdani efforts planned by figures including Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Another effort, led by Giuliani and former NYPD detective Bo Dietl, aims to raise $10 million. Yet, despite their opposition to Mamdani, these financiers have not united behind a single rival candidate.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon labeled Mamdani’s politics “more Marxist than socialist” and dismissed his agenda as “ideological mush.” Yet as donors mobilize to fight him, political strategists warn that the flood of outside money could backfire, fueling Mamdani’s anti-establishment narrative and alienating voters from billionaire-backed campaigns.
The most important question is: how did Mamdani secure such a historic victory? He did exactly what national Democrats—stung by the party’s defeats in the 2024 presidential and congressional elections—keep saying they need to do but never actually do.
“Zohran Mamdani talked about issues relevant to working-class people. The city responded, and he won the [primary],” explained Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and two-time presidential candidate.
Mamdani, like Sanders and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), is a democratic socialist. He has taken bold, progressive stands on economic issues while advocating for international and domestic human rights. As the primary results illustrate, he is also a very popular Democratic nominee for one of the highest-profile elected positions in the United States.
Nevertheless, prominent Democratic congressional leaders from New York City—such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries—have yet to endorse him. Nor have other major New York Democrats, such as Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (though the latter made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani that she later apologized for).
Some Democrats representing suburban communities, like U.S. Representative Laura Gillen, have openly criticized the party nominee over issues ranging from tax policy to U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.
This reluctance to endorse Mamdani has drawn criticism from progressives. “It’s time for every Democratic leader to get on board,” said Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York Working Families Party.
The frustration expressed by the city’s elite and wealthiest citizens over Mamdani’s victory reflects the fact that, whatever American leaders and opinion-makers may claim, the reality is very different.
Mamdani’s campaign promises have been derided as “Soviet-style” takeovers of America. Even the lack of support from the Democrats’ socialist wing exemplifies the unwillingness to break the status quo and help the less fortunate. Moreover, his Indian roots and stand on Gaza have fueled Islamophobic and anti-Israel slurs against him.
This shows that, despite all the rhetoric, American society still struggles to accept someone on merit and his vision for reforms and welfare for the poor. Many seem more interested in protecting their own wealth while labeling him antisemitic. True democracy has yet to take root in America.
This article was originally published on Punjab Today News and can be read here.
