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The Print
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
New York, New Comrade. Mayor Mamdani and his India-style socialism
Mamdani's support for Gaza, strong anti-Trumpism (in the US President's own borough) and endorsement by the Democratic Left make him a personality important enough for Donald Trump to write a long post on. There's enormous oomph to a 33-year-old, super stylish and articulate Muslim of Indian origin who is now a front runner to govern the most powerful, rich, Jewish, and cosmopolitan city in the world. In India, it has played into the Hindu-Muslim binary. In the minds of the Hindu Right, it is the conquest of another great global city by a Muslim from the Subcontinent. Sadiq Khan of London being the other. Zohran Mamdani is going to be in the 'talk' not just in New York City or American politics, but also in India. Or, rather than saying that he will be in the headlines, we can use language more apt for the digital era and his demographic: he's going to be a most searched name for some time. He's paid him 'compliments' like 'a 100 percent Communist lunatic', one who 'looks terrible, his voice is grating' and so on. Of course, Trump also links his rise to his pet hate, the quartet of women politicians on the Democratic Left who he calls 'the Squad', led by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or AOC. The President's choice of words is, of course, Trumpian. In the Trump world, Communist or lunatic might be a common enough description for anybody he dislikes, used as casually as old Captain Haddock of Tintin comics dismissing somebody as a pestilential pachyderm or, simply, a vegetarian. To be abused by President Trump isn't a liability in New York. Also Read: Trump has brought the N-word back in fashion Do I have a problem, or even an opinion on Mamdani's rise? The answers are: problem, no; and opinion, it's great to see Indians rise in western democracies. We took pride in Rishi Sunak, on the Indian Right Kash Patel, Jay Bhattacharya and even Hindu American Tulsi Gabbard are celebrated as is the star cast of 'Indian' CEOs. Mamdani will be a stellar addition. I know what I am saying is triggering a lot of our readers. I am triggered too, but not for the reasons as some of you might be. His faith, his views, support for Gaza, dislike of Narendra Modi or Benjamin Netanyahu are the reasons many in India are unwilling to celebrate it as another 'Indian' conquest. For them, it is a conquest by the wrong guy (read the wrong faith). This polarisation has played out among the diaspora in New York as well. I am not so affected by this. If anything, I might have the boasting rights that the new mayor of the world's greatest city (if he wins) is someone who's mom I hosted twice on Walk The Talk, a story about which I will tell you in the postscript. So, what am I triggered by then? To understand this, let me take you through some highlights of his election promises. He will eliminate fares on buses (hello Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana and then keep adding) freeze the rent on two million already subsidised housing units (remember your Rent Control Act?) and to build more than two lakh homes over three years through Social Housing Development Agency (every Indian city has some such, DDA, MHADA, BDA, no?), provide universal child care for kids from six weeks to five years (anganwadis?) and, hold your breath, sarkari grocery stores with low prices. Remember our 'fair price shops', kendriya bhandars and cooperative supermarkets? All of these ideas are so familiar to two generations of Indians as the great failures of the socialist state. If you were also parked in the ration shop line by your mom as I was when just 10, to hold her spot until she finished cooking lunch and came to buy almost anything we needed, you will know what I mean. From sugar (200 grams per head per week in 1967) to wheat and even cloth by the metre. Everything for the working classes was to be found at state-run shops. Even if you did not have an experience like this, you've seen the state-built concrete working-class housing in our cities which are concrete slum clusters by another name. In New Delhi, I call them slums built by the Delhi Destruction (oops, Development) Authority and every city has has its own version. Our free bus services are now collapsing along with the state government finances. All of the ideas that failed so spectacularly in the country of his origin, Mamdani is now promising to replicate in a city millions of Indians have made their new home, mostly as economic refugees. Mamdani is too young to have picked these ideas from India and unlikely his parents experienced too much of this. However, this love of socialism in a country that gave the modern world its capitalist dream and in the city that represents that breathless success is an interesting point. What's even more interesting is the appeal this finds among New York's young. This is especially so in the big cities, nearly all run by Democrats. And Mamdani, if anything, stands way to the Left of 'the Squad'. Socialism, ironically, oozes significant sex appeal in a city that should be the brand ambassador of capitalist success. Also Read: One person's Deep State is another's Non-State actor. And Shallow State is where the real power lies Or is it the case that such success ultimately breeds socialism? That you've become so rich you can afford socialism? Europe swerved hard Left after the riches piled up, and has been course-correcting lately. Because socialism in rich societies also brings in immigration, racial and religious diversity and, truth be told, tribal internal conflicts from distant lands. Inevitably, it draws a reaction, and the Right returns. Even in Scandinavia, the home of the best socialism. India's problem is, the bad ideas never left us. Only good people, the best minds left. Millions of our brightest, most ambitious, entrepreneurial made America their home. What were they fleeing if not our fake socialism? Every Indian who risks their lives on a 'dunki' today is fleeing socialism which survives in the Modi era. Check out how much Modi government spends on distributive welfare and how BJP, supposedly a Right-wing party, has embraced the freebie culture of Indian socialists. In January 1990, while covering the unravelling of the Soviet Bloc I learnt some taxi driver's wisdom in Prague. Except that this taxi driver had a master's in engineering and was waiting for Václav Havel to fully liberate the economy. You Indians fought back for your political freedoms in the Emergency, he said, but how come you never fought for your economic freedoms? He had the answer: because you had never experienced economic freedom. You didn't even know what you were denied. This was a conversation at Prague's Wenceslas Square where a sparkling streamer hung from a building saying 'welcome back home Mr Bata'. He was driven out by Communism, the driver said, built a fortune in Canada, and now all you Indians wear his shoes. PostScript: Mira Nair and I set up our first WalkTheTalk interview one chilly January morning in 2005 in Delhi's Jama Masjid. We had just about started when the Shahi Imam arrived, furious. 'Ek dum rukiye aap' (stop at once), he said. He recognised me and softened. 'Aap ke liye izzat hai, aap jab marzi record keejiye. Inke liye nahin' (We respect you. You can record whenever you like. But not her). Why, I asked and explained to him what a brilliant and globally respected woman she was. He wasn't impressed and used adjectives that I'd rather not repeat. I wouldn't even commit the sin of imagining if maulana sahib had seen Nair's Kama Sutra or heard of it. But we retreated, recorded in the street outside and concluded the conversation over a breakfast of naan and nihari. Also Read: In defence of Murthy & Subrahmanyan: Success isn't 9-to-5, and no one's forcing you to work longer
New York Post
2 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
Jamaal Bowman blames black health issues on being called the N-word ‘every day'
Ex-New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman is blaming the higher rate of chronic diseases among the black community on being called the 'N-word directly or indirectly every day.' The far-left former 'Squad' member theorized during a roundtable discussion on 'CNN NewsNight,' where he grew animated when referring to 'America's original sin and its disease of hate and racism towards black and brown people,' at times raising his voice. Far-left ex-New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman had an animated appearance on 'CNN NewsNight' in which he blamed chronic health issues in the black community on racism. CNN Advertisement He also hit out on Republicans as a whole, scolding White House official Marc Short for what he views as the sins of the party. 'Your colleagues in the Republican Party do not hold each other accountable when it comes to the racism that comes from the party on a consistent basis,' he erupted, talking over Short. 'You can't be calm about this! I'm a black man in America! The reason why heart disease and cancer and obesity and diabetes are bigger in the black community is because of the stress we carry from having to deal with being called the N-word directly or indirectly every day,' he alleged. Advertisement 'If your colleagues would listen and try to learn and engage and grow, and stop being so hateful, we could have a better country, but unfortunately we're still here.' Former Republican California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, striking a calmer tone, attempted to reason with Bowman. 'I understand where you're coming from, sincerely, I really really do, it happens on both sides Jamaal, you might think it happens more on your side … you should see my Twitter feed,' he said before Bowman interrupted, closing his eyes for dramatic effect. 'We have cops beating black people to death,' he wailed. Advertisement Bowman has a history of questionable statements and antics, including pulling a Capitol Hill fire alarm during a government shutdown vote in 2023. Getty Images Bowman, known for unhinged antics like pulling a Capitol Hill fire alarm during a government shutdown vote in 2023, lost his seat in the 16th Congressional District last year to Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Leading up to the election, Bowman held a rally in the Bronx with fellow 'Squad' member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in which the former congressman bellowed 'we're gonna show them who the f–k we are! We are gonna show f–king AIPAC the power of the motherf–king South Bronx!' He also chanted his own name before grabbing a stool from the stage, waving it in the air and slamming it down on the ground.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
"100% Communist Lunatic": Trump Slams New York Mayor Hopeful Zohran Mamdani
New York: US Donald Trump has weighed in on the victory of Indian-origin leftist socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary election, calling him a "100 per cent communist lunatic". Trump also criticised other progressive leaders who support Mamdani, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Senator Chuck Schumer, after former New York governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the election. "It's finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor. We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous," the Republican said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Launching a personal attack on a 33-year-old self-declared socialist, Trump said Mamdani "looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he's not very smart, he's got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin' Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him. Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!" In another post, he said, presumably jesting, that Democrats should nominate "Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President" to get back in play. He also said that democrats should put "AOC+3" - his term for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive Squad members - in Cabinet positions. Mamdani-- an Indian origin Muslim, who is the son of acclaimed Indian American filmmaker Mira Nair and an Indian-born Ugandan Marxist scholar Mahmood Mamdani-- won the democratic race after former New York governor Andrew Cuomo conceded New York City's mayoral primary election. Mamdani won 43.5 per cent of the vote, and 90 per cent of the ballots counted. If Mamdani wins the final race, he will become New York's first Muslim mayor. The son of Indian-origin immigrants, he is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America party -- the kind of niche, leftist affiliation that many Democratic leaders believe their party needs to shed. The fact that Mamdani speaks out for Palestinians and has accused Israel of "genocide" also makes him a prime target for Trump. His supporters include two favourite Trump foils -- fiery leftist Senator Bernie Sanders and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Currently a New York state assemblyman representing the borough of Queens, Mamdani's eye-catching policy proposals include freezing rent for many New Yorkers, free bus service, and universal childcare. In a city where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 a month, his message struck a chord.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani's upset over Andrew Cuomo fuels AOC 2028 buzz
Speculation is swirling about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's plans for 2028 after she successfully endorsed dark-horse socialist Zohran Mamdani in the heated New York City Democratic mayoral primary. Many observers believe the lefty 'Squad' member will try to move up from her House seat — whether to the Senate or even the White House — in the aftermath of Mamdani's stunning upset over ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday night. 'It just continues to open more doors,' Corbin Trent, Ocasio-Cortez's former spokesperson and author of America's Undoing Substack, told The Post. 'It just broadens her horizons.' Advertisement The 35-year-old Bronx and Queens congresswoman was perhaps the most high-profile Democrat to throw her weight behind Mamdani, 33, at a time when he was widely seen as the underdog in the race. Cuomo, a thrice-elected Democrat, got the backing of establishment party members, like South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn and former President Bill Clinton — but still lagged behind Mamdani by 7 points in the ranked-choice voting contest. 'You can always count on her being underestimated for sure, that's a given,' Trent said of AOC. Advertisement Mamdani's shocking victory 'gives her a little bit of a national victory, more national attention for going in the right direction and backing the right horse,' he added. Other Democratic operatives and aides endorsed the view that Ocasio-Cortez would interpret the socialist's ascent as proof that her style of grassroots, progressive politicking could triumph in the next presidential contest. But some cautioned that Cuomo's defeat was more a result of his own bad brand. 'He had the consulting class, the lobbyists, and nasty operatives, and then his own track record,' one Dem operative assessed. 'There's nothing to like.' Advertisement 4 The Bronx and Queens rep had been one of the most high-profile Democrats to endorse Zohran Mamdani in the Big Apple Democratic mayoral primary. LP Media 4 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew big crowds while campaigning with Zohran Mamdani. William Miller Almost seven years ago, Ocasio-Cortez had a similar breakthrough moment when she bested bigwig former House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in a 2018 primary. The big question now is whether Ocasio-Cortez will seek Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) seat or the presidency 10 years after her meteoric rise from bartender to congresswoman. Advertisement One Democratic operative told The Post that AOC was still more likely to be making a move against Schumer in the 2028 primary. But another suggested such a challenge would pale in comparison to 'doing [presidential] rallies across the country,' in the same vein as Ocasio-Cortez's recent 'Fight Oligarchy' events with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 'The polls say she would beat Schumer at primary, and I think, you see her and Bernie going through some upstate New York tours, I think you'd absolutely see more than you'd expect,' Trent said of her potential. 'People know they're getting screwed. And I think you go out there and tell that message. It'll resonate,' he added, in a reference to Mamdani's platform that stressed affordability. A third Democratic aide speculated that the left flank of the party will also use Mamdani's win to make the case that AOC will be a viable candidate for the party's presidential nom in 2028. But the democratic socialist's win is also exciting Republicans who will have plenty of 'fodder' — such as Mamdani's pie in the sky plans for government-run grocery stores and his anti-police and anti-Israel rhetoric. Those issues will be tough for Democrats to 'navigate' between now and the 2026 midterms, according to a fourth party insider. Around the time that Cuomo conceded to Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez's odds of clinching the Democratic nomination in 2028 spiked dramatically. Advertisement The Democratic primary is generally seen as pretty wide open, with the party struggling to regain its footing after the drubbing it received in 2024. 'The Democrat Party should stop wasting time, just crown AOC the 2028 nominee now! She's a foreign policy mastermind, her legislative wins are too many to count, and she clearly speaks for Democrat leadership,' Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) said on X after Mamdani's victory, noting his account wasn't hacked. 'This is the candidate who can unite climate alarmists, people who think economics is a vibe, and believe that we're all just citizens of the world. Run AOC, Run!' If she were to run and win in the next presidential race, she would become the first female and youngest person in US history to hold the office. Advertisement 4 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is enjoying significant speculation about her 2028 ambitions. AP There's also the possibility AOC could try to go up against Schumer in 2028, when the five-term senator is up for re-election. Schumer drew wrath from the progressive base in March when he declined to block a GOP bill to prevent a partial government shutdown. Advertisement Ocasio-Cortez had been one of the leading voices pushing for a shutdown showdown. Multiple polls have since found her beating him, should she choose to run against him. She declined to challenge Schumer in 2022 and the minority leader has not yet said publicly whether or not he will even pursue re-election in 2028. Schumer congratulated Mamdani on his win Wednesday, but unlike Ocasio-Cortez, he has stopped short of outright endorsing the former rapper and two-term state assemblyman as he gears up for a general election race against Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent. Many top GOP voices in the Empire State believe Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez are on a collision course against one another. Advertisement 4 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has not said whether he will seek election again in 2028. REUTERS 'Tonight's biggest winner is [Ocasio-Cortez]. [Schumer] is cooked in a Democratic primary in 2028,' Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) mused Tuesday evening, re-upping his longstanding prognostication. Trent, who concluded that Mamdani's win probably isn't impacting AOC's 2028 decision-making process too significantly, described his former boss as the 'Michael Jordan' of political messaging. 'There's no question about that,' he said of her ability to communicate effectively.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
AOC responds to Trump's blistering criticism over her calls for his impeachment: ‘I'm just a silly girl'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, referred to herself as a 'silly girl' Tuesday in response to President Trump's scathing social media attack against the far-left lawmaker. 'Mr. President, don't take your anger out on me – I'm just a silly girl,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X, after Trump ridiculed her as 'one of the 'dumbest' people in Congress.' 'Take it out on whoever convinced you to betray the American people and our Constitution by illegally bombing Iran and dragging us into war,' the 'Squad' rep – dubbed 'Stupid AOC' by the president – added. 3 Ocasio-Cortez fired back at Trump's criticism Tuesday, referring to herself as 'just a silly girl.' Daniel Efram/ZUMA / The president fumed after Ocasio-Cortez had called for his impeachment Saturday, over his decision to bomb three nuclear facilities in Iran, which the congresswoman described as a 'grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.' 'Instead of her constant complaining, Alexandria should go back home to Queens, where I was also brought up, and straighten out her filthy, disgusting, crime ridden streets, in the District she 'represents,' and which she never goes to anymore,' Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning. He also appeared to refer to Ocasio-Cortez as 'The Mouse' and suggested the congresswoman should be 'forced' to take the same cognitive test he completed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as part of his annual physical. In her response, Ocasio-Cortez argued that Trump has reneged on 'almost every' campaign promise he made in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. 3 Ocasio-Cortez has been floated as a possible Democratic Senate and presidential candidate. @AOC/X 'It only took you 5 months to break almost every promise you made,' the 35-year-old congresswoman wrote. 'Also, I'm a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully,' she added. 3 Trump berated Ocasio-Cortez on Truth Social Tuesday, after the congresswoman called for his impeachment. REUTERS An attempt led by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) to impeach Trump over the Iran strikes Tuesday failed in the House of Representatives, with a majority of House Dems voting with Republicans to shelve the effort. Ocasio-Cortez voted against tabling the single article of impeachment, which accused the president of engaging in abuse of power by ordering the weekend strikes against Iran's Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow facilities. Trump, who survived two impeachment efforts during his first term, has dared Democrats seeking to do the same to him in his second administration to 'MAKE MY DAY!'
