a day ago
Trump says he'll withhold money from New York if Mamdani becomes mayor and doesn't do ‘the right thing'
President Donald Trump has said that he will withhold funding for New York City if presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor after November's general election and doesn't do the 'right thing.'
Trump called Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, a 'pure communist.'
'I think he admits it ... If he does get in, I'm gonna be president and he's gonna have to do the right thing or they're not getting any money. He's gotta do the right thing,' the president added.
Trump claimed that Mamdani would be 'very bad for New York.'
'I used to say, we will never have a socialist in this country, no, but we'll have a communist. I mean, he's a communist and going to be mayor of New York,' he said.
Mamdani appeared on NBC 's Meet the Press on Sunday morning, where moderator Kristen Welker gave him the chance to respond to Trump's comments.
'He's had a lot to say about your campaign. He called you a communist. Because he's the president, I want to give you a chance to respond directly to him. How do you respond? Are you a communist?' Welker asked.
'No, I am not. And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for,' said Mamdani. 'And I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed.
'And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a Democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago, who said, 'Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country,'' he added. 'And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And ultimately, what we need, is a city where every single person can thrive.'
Welker also grilled Mamdani on the phrase 'globalize the intifada.' She noted that he was recently asked about it, and he didn't 'condemn the phrase.'
'It's a phrase that many people hear as a call to violence against Jews,' said Welker. 'There's been a lot of attention on this issue, so I want to give you an opportunity to respond here and now. Do you condemn that phrase 'globalize the intifada?''
'That's not language that I use,' said Mamdani. 'The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.'
'And ultimately, that's what is the foundation of so much of my politics, the belief that freedom and justice and safety are things that, to have meaning, have to be applied to all people, and that includes Israelis and Palestinians as well,' he added.
Welker pressed on, asking again if Mamdani condemns the phrase.
He said he has heard from Jewish New Yorkers who have shared their concerns with him amid recent attacks in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colorado.
'I've heard those fears, and I've had those conversations, and ultimately, they are part and parcel of why in my campaign, I've put forward a commitment to increase funding for anti-hate crime programming by 800 percent,' he said. 'I don't believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech in the manner, especially of that of Donald Trump, who has put one New Yorker in jail who has just returned to his family, Mahmoud Khalil, for that very supposed crime of speech.'
'Ultimately, what I think I need to show is the ability to not only talk about something but to tackle it and to make clear that there's no room for antisemitism in this city,' he added. 'And we have to root out that bigotry, and ultimately, we do that through ... actions. And that is the mayor I will be, one that protects Jewish New Yorkers and lives up to that commitment through the work that I do.'
Welker went on to ask Mamdani if, as a self-described democratic socialist, he believes that billionaires have a right to exist.
'I don't think that we should have billionaires, because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country,' he said. 'And I look forward to work with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fairer for all of them.'
