How can socialist Zohran Mamdani revel in his family's colonial privilege?
Any candidate could have been out of town in late July, but no others would be partying at a grand colonial compound an ocean away from home.
And it's an extra-icky look for a socialist who's supposedly pro-equality and anti-imperialistic.
Yes, the gated Mamdani spread in the ritzy Buziga Hill neighborhood of Kampala, Uganda, belongs to Zohran's Hollywood-director mom and Columbia radical-prof dad, but he plainly feels fully privileged to enjoy it.
And the belated wedding celebration with his wife, Rama Duwaji, ran for three days, a party guarded by a privacy-ensuring phone-jamming system, and a mini army of private security: No fewer than 20 special forces soldiers by the property gate to guard the invite-only event.
Quite the look for a politician who's repeatedly called for New Yorkers to go without police protection — including battered women and other victims of domestic abuse.
He's also slammed the NYPD as supposedly 'anti-queer,' despite partying in country whose penalties for being gay range from life imprisonment to death, not to mention the rest of Uganda's abysmal human rights record.
The country is plagued with child labor, child marriage and child soldiers, female mutilation in some eastern regions, and authoritarianism under President Yoweri Museveni.
The prez, who's been in power since 1986, was even spotted in the same neighborhood as the lavish party, although it's unclear whether he attended.
And no, it doesn't matter that Mamdani has criticized Uganda's excesses: What does all his socialist talk even mean when the whole family does nothing but walk the global-elite walk?
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USA Today
39 minutes ago
- USA Today
Republicans are afraid of Mamdani in New York. That's a good thing.
Republicans think Zohran Mamdani will turn NYC into a socialist mecca because they forgot what a functioning government looks like. We're a few months out from New York City's municipal election, and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is still the frontrunner in the mayoral race. It's a positive sign for progressives who want to see democratic socialists transform the party. In a July poll by Zenith Research and Public Progress Solutions, Mamdani received 50% of support while the rest of the candidates trailed behind. Former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, who is now running as an independent, received 22% of support, followed by Republican Curtis Sliwa at 13%. Current Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, received just 7% support. Mamdani may be polling well, but his path to victory in November is anything but smooth. There are already five anti-Mamdani PACs that have formed since the primary, backed by business moguls and real estate tycoons who warn that the Democratic nominee would be bad for the city's economy. He's also having to answer for some of his previous posts about 'defunding the police' and comments on Israel. Republicans criticizing Mamdani for 'defund police' comment are hypocritical The biggest criticism of Mamdani has come from his previous comments about the New York City Police Department. In the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020, Mamdani posted to X that the NYPD was 'racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety' and called for defunding the force. Mamdani has also proposed creating a Department of Community Safety separate from the police department, which would respond to mental health calls. But the Democratic nominee is attempting to distance himself from these previous claims, calling the posts 'out of step' with his current stance on public safety. He recently met with the family of Officer Didarul Islam, one of the four people killed in a recent shooting in Midtown Manhattan. Republicans criticizing him seem more than willing to ignore the way President Donald Trump pardoned Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police officers, or his own criminal convictions. But he is the "law and order" president, for sure. And the GOP is the "law and order" party, right? Voters are increasingly agreeing with Mamdani on Gaza Another criticism from the right is that Mamdani is too critical of Israel. Fox News recently resurrected a clip of Mamdani from a 2024 panel where the mayoral candidate claimed, 'Israel is not a place, it is not a country.' Mamdani seems to be taking these attacks to heart. He recently said he would not use the phrase 'globalize the intifada,' and would also discourage others from using it. Mamdani had previously refused to condemn the phrase. On the other hand, Mamdani's criticisms of Israel proved to be popular with voters in the Democratic primary. A poll from Data for Progress and the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project found that his 'support for Palestinian rights' was important for 96% of his voters, while his 'willingness to criticize the Israeli government' was important to 88% of his voters. Opinion: People are starving in Gaza. Why are we so comfortable just letting that happen? While conservatives are trying to attack Mamdani for his previous stances on Israel and his sympathy for the Palestinian people, it doesn't seem like it'll work. Democrats should listen to their voters, not conservatives, to know how to approach this issue. Only 8% of Democrats support Israel's actions in Gaza, according to a recent Gallup poll, while 71% of Republicans support it. Some Republicans are even breaking with the party to denounce mass starvation in the region, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who recently called the crisis a "genocide." Republicans are afraid of what Mamdani stands for. Good. Mamdani won the primary largely thanks to his mobilization of young voters. It worked out for him: voters under 40 made up 40% of early voting turnout. Now, the question is whether they'll turn out for the general election. I'm hopeful that they will. I have personally seen the way my generation has reacted to Mamdani's campaign. There is a palpable excitement reminiscent of Barack Obama's first run for the presidency, an excitement fueled by the idea that the Democratic Party can change, in spite of itself. Opinion: Zohran Mamdani rallied Gen Z voters. We can't abandon him now. The reasons conservatives are criticizing Mamdani are the reasons people my age voted for him. We believe in moving funding from the NYPD into areas like mental health care and community building. We support Palestinian rights. We want to see that working-class New Yorkers can remain in this city. We see taxing corporations and the wealthy as a good thing. Some may call these things unrealistic, and they may have a point. There's no way New York City becomes a socialist utopia if Mamdani is elected, since he must work with the city council, state and national governments to achieve many of his campaign priorities. But his very election could signal to the Democratic Party that they should run to, not from, progressive politics. Mamdani's path to victory is not an easy one. He will continue to face criticism from the right throughout the next few months. But if polling is any indication, he's still likely to be the next mayor of the largest city in the United States. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jews prefer Mamdani to other NYC mayoral candidates but worry about safety under him, poll finds
Mamdani is pulling the largest share of Jewish voters at 37%, with the rest dispersed between his competitors, according to a poll conducted by GQR. Jewish New Yorkers support Zohran Mamdani more than any candidate for mayor, but they strongly disagree about how he would shape their future, says a new poll from a pro-Israel nonprofit. Mamdani is pulling the largest share of Jewish voters at 37%, with the rest dispersed between his competitors, Mayor Eric Adams (25%), former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (21%) and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa (14%), according to the poll commissioned by New York Solidarity Network and conducted by GQR. The results largely align with a poll by Zenith Research and Public Progress Solutions earlier this week, which had Cuomo ahead of Adams, but still showed Mamdani holding a significant lead without a majority of Jewish support. Public Progress Solutions is run by an ally of Mamdani, while New York Solidarity Network campaigned against him in the primary. The new survey explored Jewish voters' sentiments about antisemitism, Israel, and their concerns as New Yorkers. Among the 800 people surveyed, 74% said they worried about antisemitism. But they differed on where that threat came from — about half said they believed Mamdani was antisemitic, while nearly all of his Jewish supporters disagreed. They also diverged on the overlap between pro-Palestinian slogans and antisemitism: Three in five Jewish voters said the phrases 'globalize the intifada' and 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' were antisemitic. (Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel, has come under fire for declining to condemn the former slogan.) But they said they were basing their votes primarily on local matters: 76% said they based their vote on issues like affordability and crime, with only 17% centering their future mayor's views on Israel. The Jews who supported Mamdani were most motivated by his promises to tax the wealthy, build affordable housing, and focus on mental health officers rather than police to prevent crime. Israel and Palestine still the main issue with Mamdani Mamdani's stance drove 17% of Jewish voters, the poll found. In comparison, 62% of all Mamdani voters said they were driven by his pro-Palestinian advocacy, according to another recent poll by the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project. Many Jews surveyed by New York Solidarity Group said they believed their future is in danger — 58% believe the city will be less safe for Jews under Mamdani's leadership, including a large contingent of older voters. Sara Forman, the group's executive director, told Politico she wanted Mamdani to understand the concerns weighing on Jewish New Yorkers. Her message for him signaled that even staunchly pro-Israel Jewish leaders may be resigning themselves to the idea that Mamdani will prevail in November, leaving them no choice but to collaborate with him. 'It's a very good overview in terms of a roadmap for how, if you want to represent everyone, how you can take the first step to do that,' said Forman. Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Bill Maher on possibility of Mamdani as New York City mayor: 'We've never had someone this radical'
Comedian Bill Maher sparred Friday with one of his guests, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., when the lawmaker dismissed criticism of New York City's Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as a "contrived villain or boogeyman." "He's not contrived. He's gonna be the mayor of New York," Maher argued. The late-night show host cited Mamdani's "Marxist" positions, such as the "abolition of private property," after he declared that the Big Apple has "never had someone this radical." "There's a lot of opposition [to Mamdani] because we've never had someone this radical," Maher warned. "Some of the things he says, you know he quotes Marxists, 'each according to their need.' I mean, that's straight up Communism." Meanwhile, Rep. Crow maintained that a "boogeyman" like Mamdani comes around every election cycle for Republicans. "They always try to create a villain is my point," he said. "They always try to create some boogeyman or bogeywoman." "No, these are quotes. I'm not creating anything, I'm quoting [Mamdani]," Maher debated. The comedian's second guest, columnist James Kirchick, did not hesitate to chime in about the criticism Mamdani has received from conservatives. "Everything that the crazy far-right alleged about Obama – wasn't born in America, Islamist, socialist, antisemite, hates America, it's all true about this guy [Mamdani]," Kirchick claimed. Kirchick went on to describe what he finds the "most appalling" about Mamdani. "He defends the expression 'globalize the intifada,' which explicitly means – and I don't wanna hear anyone deny this – it means kill Jews whenever and wherever you can find them," Kirchick added. The "Secret City" author hit both sides of the political aisle, comparing Democrats who are not refusing to endorse Mamdani to Republicans 10 years ago, who were "letting Trump go on and on and they weren't standing up to him." "I feel with this guy we're seeing the same sort of cowardice and spinelessness," Kirchick asserted. In July, the New York Times reported that Mamdani told a group of business leaders he would not use the phrase "globalize the intifada," and he would "discourage" others from using it. The American Pulse polling firm conducted a survey in July, in which it found that 30% of New York City voters support Mamdani's refusal to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada" and his backing of the anti-Israel boycott movement.
