Socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani pledged freebies to classmates during HS election — and still lost: ‘Ass whooped'
Mamdani, a 2010 graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, also tried to win votes with the pipe-dream promise of free gym credits for just attending sporting events.
He couldn't come through on either promise — and got his 'ass whooped' in the race, he confided in a 2017 podcast.
Mamdani — who is polling second among NYC Democratic mayoral candidates — delivered the pledges through rap songs he wrote and performed, he told AirGo podcast host Daniel Kisslinger while promoting himself as a rapper named Mr. Cardamom.
'I promised fresh juice for everyone — every day, using locally sourced fruits,' says Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman and son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. 'There was a supermarket like four minutes away.'
'Oh, that's what you mean by local? Not that we didn't grow the oranges [at the high school], but we pop by FineFare [supermarket]?' Kisslinger jokes back.
'I promised that! I promised credits for going to after-school games instead of having to go to gym,' says Mamdani, laughing.
'Those were like two concrete promises that I had done no viability study on.'
Mamdani claimed 'a lot of people enjoyed' his rapping delivery, but admitted one teacher advising, 'I just don't think this was the right decision.'
Mamdani's mayoral campaign promises reads like something out of the Politburo with vows of free bus service, government-run grocery stores and freezes on the city's roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Critics say he's yet to outline where the money to pay for any of this will come from.
'While I continue to believe in the importance of access to fresh fruits and produce—and am proud to be the only mayoral candidate with an evidence-based plan to make groceries cheaper, there is little else that my run for Bronx Science student body vice president (go Wolverines) has in common with our surging campaign for mayor to deliver New Yorkers a city they can afford,' Mamdani said in a statement.
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Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
United Federation of Teachers endorses Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor
New York City's powerful teachers union threw its support behind Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, as major labor groups continue to coalesce around the Democratic mayoral nominee. The United Federation of Teachers endorsement in the general election comes after the union — the city's second largest with 200,000 members — could not reach consensus on a preferred candidate and opted to sit out the primary. In a statement, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said the union's highest decision-making body, the Delegate Assembly, considered which candidate would protect public education from the Trump administration, make the city safer and more affordable, and boost pay and benefits for public employees. The resolution passed with 63% of the vote, sources said. 'We need a mayor who understands the task before us and who will help us get it done,' Mulgrew said. 'The UFT Delegate Assembly has determined that Zohran Mamdani can be that partner as the next mayor of New York City.' Mamdani responded in a statement that he was 'honored to have the support of UFT and look forward to working with the union as the next mayor to fully fund our public schools, provide quality education, and make sure teachers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.' 'Public education is under attack from Trump's authoritarianism on the outside and an affordability crisis from the inside,' Mamdani said. 'The need for a true fighter for New York City teachers and students has never been higher.' At a town hall before the delegate assembly vote, sources said Mulgrew framed the race as coming down to two candidates: Mamdani and Mayor Eric Adams. The union president previously called Adams a 'hostage' to the Trump administration. Adams has denied such allegations. Andrew Cuomo had been a top contender in the endorsement process during the primary, but the former governor has yet to decide if he will campaign — though he will be on the ballot. Mulgrew revealed during the town hall that according to a small internal poll, UFT retirees largely voted Cuomo, while many in-service members went for Mamdani. _____
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
College group Zohran Mamdani co-founded welcomed radical speaker who blamed US for 9/11 attacks: 'Made its bed'
Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani co-founded a college club that invited a radical speaker who called Israel a bigger terror threat than Hamas – and boasted he was greatly influenced by a Palestinian leader nicknamed the 'godfather of Middle-eastern terrorism.' The professor, As'ad AbuKhalil, also later claimed that the US brought the Sept. 11 attack on itself and accused the government of inflicting 'many 9/11s' on the world. In November 2013, Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin College — which Mamdani helped launch — welcomed the controversial Lebanese-American academic to campus. Advertisement 7 Mamdani co-founded a college club that invited a radical speaker who called Israel a bigger terror threat than Hamas. Paul Martinka for NY Post AbuKhalil was invited to speak to SJP about 'trends in the Middle East in the age of uprising' while Mamdani was still a student. Years after the invite, he hadn't tampered down his inflammatory rhetoric. Advertisement 'We have to remember that the US basically was hit on 9/11 by forces that were reactionary and fanatic and were raised and armed and sponsored by America and its allies in the Middle East,' Abukhalil said in 2021. 'People forget that 9/11 is a repercussion of the Cold War when the US made its bed and clearly with the religious fanatics of the Muslim world,' he also said. 'This is a time where socialists around the world in Chile, in the Arab world and everywhere were under attack by the US. Reactionary forces in support.' 7 AbuKhalil was invited to speak to SJP about 'trends in the Middle East in the age of uprising' while Mamdani was still a student. GiraZapatistaBE/X While AbuKhalil stressed it's 'heart-wrenching remembering all these people who came from 80 nationalities, the ones who died on 9/11 here in the United States,' he also argued, 'but there were many earlier 9/11s that the US inflicted on people around the world.' Advertisement The questionable invite was one of several inflammatory actions the students group has taken in the past decade after Mamdani helped launch the small liberal arts school's branch of the activist organization. The democratic socialist who won big in the crowded Democratic primary for Big Apple mayor, has faced a wave of criticism for his association with leaders accused of antisemitism and past comments. 7 New York's Zohran Mamdani holds rally with union leaders inside HTC (Hotel & Gaming Trades Council) midtown HQ at 707 8th Avenue (between 44th and 45th streets) in midtown Manhattan. Paul Martinka for NY Post AbuKhalil's most eyebrow-raising 9/11 comments came after he was invited to Bowdoin but he made several shocking statements leading up to the event. Advertisement In 2006, AbuKhalil claimed Israel committed more destructive terrorism than Hamas and slammed Americans for not acknowledging that. 'And if Hamas has practiced versions of indiscriminate and aimless violence—which I personally reject on principle–, it should be pointed out that Israeli terrorism—in scale and in magnitude–by far exceeds that of Hamas, but nobody has noticed here in the US. Fatah is facing a dilemma, and it does not know how to respond,' he wrote in a blog post. 7 AbuKhalil's most eyebrow-raising 9/11 comments came after he was invited to Bowdoin. Bowdoin SJP/X AbuKhalil said he was 'honored to have known' George Habash, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has been designated a terror organization by the US since 1997. 'He was a great Palestinian leader,' said AbuKhalil in 2012 to an audience in Edinburgh that was pointed out by Canary Mission. AbuKhalil also commended Habash as a figure who had 'tremendous influence' on the academic. 'Of course if you look at newspapers he would be seen as terrorist,' he said. A Time magazine story in 2008 about his death assailed Habash as 'the godfather of Middle East terrorism.' Advertisement 'The PFLP was founded in 1967 by a group of radical socialists led by George Habash and became infamous in the 1970s for airplane hijackings,' according to the Anti-Defamation League. 7 AbuKhalil said he was 'honored to have known' George Habash, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. An email seeking comment from AbuKhalil, who teaches at California State University Stanislaus, was not immediately returned. Longshot mayoral candidate Jim Walden slammed Mamdani for his past ties to the student. Advertisement 'Mamdani needs to come clean with voters on his support for Islamic radicals and terrorists while at Bowdoin,' said Walden, an attorney. Mamdani's campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment. It's unclear if Mamdani was involved in getting AbuKhalil to campus or if he attended the talk. 7 It's unclear if Mamdani was involved in getting AbuKhalil to campus or if he attended the talk. asadabukhalil/X While Mamdani graduated from Bowdoin in spring 2014, the SJP chapter has had other instances in which it was a hotbed for radical activism. Advertisement SJP occupied a first floor of a campus building earlier this year tied to protesting the school's investment practices and President Trump hinting at taking control of war-torn Gaza, according to the Bowdoin Orient. 'As Israeli aggression obliterates Palestinian homes and guns down children in Jenin, as unspeakable suffering continues in Gaza, and as America descends further into fascism, we ask – what type of institution does Bowdoin want to be?' the group argued in a press release. 'One that cowers to authoritarianism, that chooses cowardice in the face of injustice? The choice is Bowdoin's.' 7 New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani attends a press conference with union leaders and supporters in New York City, July 2, 2025. REUTERS Advertisement Scrutiny into Mamdani's background has only intensified since he easily coasted to victory in the Democratic Party primary last month, clobbering former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a slew of other candidates in the ranked-choice vote. In resurfaced tweets Mamdani appeared to defend al Qaeda fiend Anwar al-Awalaki, who was later killed in a drone strike approved by then-President Barack Obama. It was also revealed last week that Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, claimed he was 'African American' along with 'Asian' in a college application to Columbia University that was ultimately rejected. The far-left darling still needs to get past the general election in which he'll face GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa as well as Mayor Eric Adams, Cuomo and Walden each of whom are appearing on minor ballot lines. Big Apple moderates are in a frenzy in a bid to stop his ascension to City Hall while prominent Democrats in New York have yet to endorse his candidacy despite Mamdani clinching the most votes ever in a city primary.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Adams rebukes Mamdani for 'romanticizing' socialism in NYC mayoral campaign
New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned on Tuesday that people "don't really understand the term 'socialism'" as he faces off against democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, running on the Democratic Party ticket, in the mayoral race. "70% of New Yorkers are not anti the term 'socialism,'" Adams told Coleman Hughes on the "Conversations with Coleman" podcast. "And many people don't really understand the term socialism and what it means." "You know, I've been to Cuba. I've been to Venezuela. I've been to countries where socialism exists. I saw the empty shelves, the ration books in Cuba and what it means," he added. "So, we're romanticizing the terminology, and it always sounds good, you know that, 'I'm a socialist.' But when you dig into what it means, you understand when you get stuff for free, someone is paying for it." Adams argued that Mamdani's campaign promises, such as city-owned grocery stores, would harm the working class he claims to want to help. "His socialist theory of 'let's open government supermarkets' – hey, what about the bodegas, brother? What about those men and women in the Korean community that open up supermarkets, that open up stores? What about the Chinese community or the Arab community? All of these communities have used their feeding of their constituencies as a way to hire people and a move up in the American dream. So, we're going to totally disregard them and collapse their entire industry," Adams said. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's campaign for comment. Mamdani won the Democratic New York City primary race for mayor in June, defeating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has not yet dropped out of the formal race. Adams, elected as a Democrat, announced that he would be running as an independent. Mamdani's win shocked many with his overt support for socialist policies and past comments utilizing communist revolutionary language. In 2020, while campaigning for a seat in the New York State Assembly, Mamdani wrote on social media, "Each according to their need, each according to their ability," a direct quote from Karl Marx's infamous "Communist Manifesto." A 2021 video of Mamdani also showed him urging people at the Young Democratic Socialists of America conference to not compromise on goals such as "seizing the means of production." He has also repeatedly argued that "we shouldn't have billionaires," despite New York City's large billionaire population whose taxes help fund the local government.
