Rapper 50 Cent offers NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani $258K to get lost: ‘Where did he come from? I'm telling Trump'
Also read: Zohran Mamdani, New York City's next potential mayor, once told mom Mira Nair to direct The Namesake instead of Harry Potter 4 and cast Kal Penn
Mamdani, who recently beat Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, made his podcast appearance earlier this month. There, he spoke about his plan to raise $10 billion for the city by increasing corporate taxes and imposing a 2% tax hike on New York's top 1% earners, meaning all those making over $1 million a year. 'We're talking about corporations that are making millions of dollars, not in revenue, but in profit,' Mamdani said during the June 11 interview. 'And the second is taxing the top 1% of New Yorkers. We're talking about people who make a million dollars a year or more, taxing them just by a flat 2% tax increase,' he said on one of the most listened-to radio shows in the state. Adding that his goal is to 'Trump-proof' NYC by funding things like public transport and small business support, he said, 'I know if 50 Cent is listening, he's not going to be happy about this. He tends to not like this tax policy, but I want to be very clear, this is about $20,000 a year.'
Now, weeks later, the rapper clapped back on Instagram. Sharing the video, he wrote, 'Where did he come from? Whose friend is this? I'm not feeling this plan. No. I will give him $258,750 and a first-class one-way ticket away from NY. I'm telling Trump what he said, too!'
A post shared by 50 Cent (@50cent)
That 'telling Trump' part was a cheeky callback to Jackson's most recent comment about 'ratting' on Diddy to Trump, after reports claimed that the President has not ruled out pardoning Diddy, who's currently caught up in a sex trafficking and racketeering investigation. For the unversed, 50 Cent has been vocal about taxes, and in 2020, even sided with Trump when Biden spoke about tax hikes that would've meant 62% taxes for top earners in NYC. At the time, 50 posted: 'WHAT THE F–K! (VOTE FOR TRUMP) IM OUT. F–K NEW YORK. The KNICKS never win anyway. I don't care Trump doesn't like Black people. 62%—are you out of your f–***ing mind?'
Also read: Meet Zohran Mamdani, the Indian-American leading the race to become New York's next mayor
Meanwhile, Mamdani is also facing backlash from the Indian diaspora and prominent figures in NYC after his old tweets, taking sharp aim at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, religion, and Indian democratic institutions, resurfaced. Mamdani, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, ousted Cuomo after securing 43.5 percent of the vote, with 90 percent of ballots counted. If he wins, he would be New York's first Muslim mayor.
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