On Tuesday night, Zohran Mamdani did what was once unthinkable, leading a grassroots campaign to likely victory over his more experienced and political Establishment-backed opponent Andrew Cuomo. While the city awaits the final tally of his Democratic mayoral primary win, panic is beginning to set in across the aisle as local and national Republicans react to the 33-year-old state legislator’s potential path to City Hall — and seek to leverage it against Democrats near and far.
New York Republican Party members called Mamdani’s lead over Cuomo “the most alarming signal yet of how far left and out of touch the Democratic Party has become” while touting their candidate in the general election.
“Mamdani must be defeated in November — and Republican Curtis Sliwa is the only candidate who will fight for safe streets and economic opportunity for all New Yorkers,” party chairman Ed Cox said in a statement.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm, is calling Mamdani a “socialist lunatic,” deeming him the “new face of the Democratic Party” in a press release. “Every vulnerable House Democrat will own him, and every Democrat running in a primary will fear him,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said.
Elsewhere on the right, there were comments suggesting New York City would soon become uninhabitable:
Other commentators doubled down on Islamophobia:
Right-wing gadfly (and occasional Trump adviser) Laura Loomer said “RIP NYC,” warned New Yorkers to “get out while you can,” labeled Mamdani a terrorist, and straight up predicted another 9/11:
The New York representative Elise Stefanik, who has already begun to fundraise off Mamdani’s lead and may run for governor against Kathy Hochul, wrote in a social-media post that Hochul must be in “full blown panic mode” following her congratulatory message to Mamdani, whom the congresswoman called an “antisemitic, jihadist, Communist candidate.”
“You own this dangerous insanity and are incapable of defeating it. So next year, New Yorkers will defeat you to save our state,” she said.
Similarly, Representative Mike Lawler blamed Hochul for Mamdani’s success and urged New Yorkers to support Sliwa’s candidacy in the fall with a bold prediction. “And make no mistake - Kathy Hochul and NY Democrats will pay the price for this insanity at the ballot box this November and next - when we elect our first Republican Governor since George Pataki,” he posted online.
More on Mamdani mania
- Bill Ackman Dumps Cuomo, Embraces Adams
- Trump Ramps Up Threats to Arrest Mamdani
- Can Zohran Mamdani Buy the NYPD’s Support?
