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Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mamdani to take extended Africa trip amid campaign for mayor of New York
Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani unapologetically announced an extended trip to Africa on Sunday while he campaigns to lead America's largest city. Mamdani, who defeated Andrew Cuomo by more than 12 percentage points last month, securing the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, released a video anticipating criticisms of his trip to Uganda. In a defiant, yet playful tone, Mamdani called out what he said have been "thousands" of messages on X telling him to "go back to Uganda where you come from and belong" and "go back to Africa." "Being a politician means listening, not just to your supporters, but your critics too," Mamdani said. "And some of these critics – especially on a certain website – have been giving me consistent advice." "I hear you, and I agree. I'm going back to Uganda," Mamdani said. Cuomo Quips 'Even I Will Move To Florida' If Mamdani Wins Nyc Mayoral Bid Read On The Fox News App The mayoral hopeful said he was headed to Uganda "in a personal capacity" to celebrate his marriage to his wife, Rama, with their family and friends. "I do want to apologize to the haters, because I will be coming back," he said. Mamdani added in the accompanying X post that he'd be back "by the end of the month." Attempting to assert control over the narrative, Mamdani offered some imaginary headlines condemning his overseas travel. "And since you will undoubtedly read about this trip in the New York Post, inshallah [Arabic for God willing], on the front page, here are a few of my humble suggestions for headlines," Mamdani said, jabbing at the New York-based newspaper. He proposed tabloid headlines including "M.I.A.? Mandani in Africa," "Uganda Miss Me," or "He's Kampala-etely Crazy," a reference to Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. Mamdani also suggested the headlines: "He Africa-n't Be Serious!" and "Carl Kampalanile Investigates Mamdani" – a satirical take on the name of American investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, who uncovered the Watergate scandal. "Zo-Running Away?" Mamdani said, offering one last imagined headline before the video showed himself and another campaign supporter waving to the camera and the screen fading to "Zohran for Mayor." Trump Says Cuomo's Got A 'Good Shot' Of Beating Mamdani In Nyc Mayor Election Mamdani holds dual U.S. and Ugandan citizenship. He was born in Uganda and was raised in South Africa until moving to New York City at age 7. He owns four acres of undeveloped land in Jinja, Uganda, that's valued between $150,000 and $250,000, the New York Post previously reported, citing Mamdani's 2024 New York Legislative Ethics filing. Despite this, resurfaced social media video shows Mamdani in the past has floated the "abolition of private property" – a principle of communism. His mother is an acclaimed Indian American filmmaker. She reportedly owned a nearly $2 million New York City loft for about a decade before recently selling the property, according to the Post. His father is a Columbia University professor who sits on the advisory council of an anti-Israel organization. The organization supports boycotts and sanctions of Israel, routinely accuses the Israeli government of committing "genocide," and has expressed sympathy for suicide bombers. Mamdani's candidacy has sparked concern from the Jewish community, as he declined to condemn the term "globalize the intifada" – a stance he has since walked back while courting local business owners. Meanwhile, New York City college campuses, including Columbia University, have faced rising antisemitism and anti-Israel protests and encampments in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas terrorists in Israel. Mamdani himself has defended BDS, or the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, saying at a May town hall that the anti-Israel movement "is consistent with my core of my politics, which is nonviolence." Critics of Mamdani have also condemned how he's campaigned on socialist ideals, including government-run grocery stores and rent freezes, despite his wealthy upbringing. Having won the Democratic mayoral primary, Mamdani has emerged as the frontrunner, and he is backed by progressives in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have been more cautious with Mamdani. It's extremely rare for candidates who win the Democratic mayoral primary to lose the November general election, but Mamdani still faces Cuomo, who formally declared his independent mayoral bid last week. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent, as is former federal prosecutor Jim Walden. "Guardian Angels" founder Curtis Sliwa is the Republican mayoral candidate. Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller, Cameron Cawthorne and Deirdre Heavy contributed to this article source: Mamdani to take extended Africa trip amid campaign for mayor of New York Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Mamdani to take extended Africa trip amid campaign for mayor of New York
Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani unapologetically announced an extended trip to Africa on Sunday while he campaigns to lead America's largest city. Mamdani, who defeated Andrew Cuomo by more than 12 percentage points last month, securing the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, released a video anticipating criticisms of his trip to Uganda. In a defiant, yet playful tone, Mamdani called out what he said have been "thousands" of messages on X telling him to "go back to Uganda where you come from and belong" and "go back to Africa." "Being a politician means listening, not just to your supporters, but your critics too," Mamdani said. "And some of these critics – especially on a certain website – have been giving me consistent advice." "I hear you, and I agree. I'm going back to Uganda," Mamdani said. The mayoral hopeful said he was headed to Uganda "in a personal capacity" to celebrate his marriage to his wife, Rama, with their family and friends. "I do want to apologize to the haters, because I will be coming back," he said. Mamdani added in the accompanying X post that he'd be back "by the end of the month." Attempting to assert control over the narrative, Mamdani offered some imaginary headlines condemning his overseas travel. "And since you will undoubtedly read about this trip in the New York Post, inshallah [Arabic for God willing], on the front page, here are a few of my humble suggestions for headlines," Mamdani said, jabbing at the New York-based newspaper. He proposed tabloid headlines including "M.I.A.? Mandani in Africa," "Uganda Miss Me," or "He's Kampala-etely Crazy," a reference to Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. Mamdani also suggested the headlines: "He Africa-n't Be Serious!" and "Carl Kampalanile Investigates Mamdani" – a satirical take on the name of American investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, who uncovered the Watergate scandal. "Zo-Running Away?" Mamdani said, offering one last imagined headline before the video showed himself and another campaign supporter waving to the camera and the screen fading to "Zohran for Mayor." Mamdani holds dual U.S. and Ugandan citizenship. He was born in Uganda and was raised in South Africa until moving to New York City at age 7. He owns four acres of undeveloped land in Jinja, Uganda, that's valued between $150,000 and $250,000, the New York Post previously reported, citing Mamdani's 2024 New York Legislative Ethics filing. Despite this, resurfaced social media video shows Mamdani in the past has floated the "abolition of private property" – a principle of communism. His mother is an acclaimed Indian American filmmaker. She reportedly owned a nearly $2 million New York City loft for about a decade before recently selling the property, according to the Post. His father is a Columbia University professor who sits on the advisory council of an anti-Israel organization. The organization supports boycotts and sanctions of Israel, routinely accuses the Israeli government of committing "genocide," and has expressed sympathy for suicide bombers. Mamdani's candidacy has sparked concern from the Jewish community, as he declined to condemn the term "globalize the intifada" – a stance he has since walked back while courting local business owners. Meanwhile, New York City college campuses, including Columbia University, have faced rising antisemitism and anti-Israel protests and encampments in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas terrorists in Israel. Mamdani himself has defended BDS, or the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, saying at a May town hall that the anti-Israel movement "is consistent with my core of my politics, which is nonviolence." Critics of Mamdani have also condemned how he's campaigned on socialist ideals, including government-run grocery stores and rent freezes, despite his wealthy upbringing. Having won the Democratic mayoral primary, Mamdani has emerged as the frontrunner, and he is backed by progressives in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have been more cautious with Mamdani. It's extremely rare for candidates who win the Democratic mayoral primary to lose the November general election, but Mamdani still faces Cuomo, who formally declared his independent mayoral bid last week. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent, as is former federal prosecutor Jim Walden. "Guardian Angels" founder Curtis Sliwa is the Republican mayoral candidate.
Fox News
10-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Mamdani campaign dishes out millions to firm of key media strategist for Obama campaigns: 'She's the best'
FIRST ON FOX: The campaign of New York City's Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has dished out millions to the firm of a key media strategist that helped shape the media-buying strategy of former President Barack Obama's campaigns. Over the past few months, campaign finance records show the Mamdani team has disbursed over $3 million to the Los Angeles-based Debra Schommer Media Group for expenditures that were described as going toward television ads, TV production and digital advertising. Schommer has more than 30 years of experience in the media planning and buying field, according to her website bio, and lists herself as a previous director of media planning and buying for AKPD Message and Media, a consulting firm started by Obama confidantes David Axelrod and David Plouffe. Schommer's website also touts her work managing and forming media strategies for political campaigns, including the presidential campaigns of Obama and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020. "As the Director of Media Planning and Buying for David Axelrod, since the inception of Axelrod and Associates (which later formed AKPD Message and Media), Debra built the department, led, managed, and worked on media strategies for Democratic candidates – Local, State, and Presidential (including Obama and Buttigieg), Independent Expenditures, and Advocacy campaigns," her bio reads. "She made sure every dollar we spent counted," Axelrod wrote in support of Schommer's work. "She's the best!" Schommer's archived bios from 2009-2015 on AKPD's website listed her as the director of media planning/buying and later the vice president of media planning, describing her as "a seasoned and skilled expert" and saying she has an "impeccable reputation in the media community along with being known for her passion and commitment to politics." In addition to Plouffe and Axelrod, an archived AKPD website says Mike Donilon, a decades-long advisor to former President Joe Biden and Democratic strategist, was a partner at the firm. Reports from 2008 said AKPD had received over $2 million from the Obama campaigns since 2005 and played an instrumental role in marketing Obama to voters. AKPD would later make headlines the following year after it was revealed it was one of two firms "working on the $24 million in ads" selling the ObamaCare push. "Mamdani and his team will throw millions at voters to run from his positions," Targeted Victory Executive VP Matt Gorman told Fox News Digital. "Consultants can work wonders, but they're not miracle workers. A communist is still a communist." In addition to Mamdani, a Fox News Digital review found that her firm played an instrumental role in crafting television ad buys for far-left "Squad" Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, who were both defeated last year during their Democratic primaries. Both ex-lawmakers were vocal about defunding the police, along with other radical proposals like reparations, and their campaigns dished out hundreds of thousands of dollars to Schommer's firm, according to the FEC website. Mamdani's surge to the forefront of the political landscape has sparked divisions within the Democratic Party between moderates who have opposed his socialist platform and the progressive wing led by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Mamdani. In the wake of Mamdani's primary victory last month, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) highlighted that "this movement is bigger than one person, election, city, or organization." "We encourage all people inspired by the Zohran campaign to join their local DSA or YDSA chapter and get involved so we can continue to fight alongside Zohran and DSA elected officials across the country to create the future we all deserve," they added in a statement. Fast-forward to Wednesday, and DSA leaders are apparently mulling running primary challengers against Jeffries as well as other House Democrats whose districts are in New York City, including Reps. Ritchie Torres, Jerry Nadler, Dan Goldman and Yvette Clarke. However, Democratic strategist Andre Richardson, a top Jeffries political advisor, pushed back hard and told CNN that they will "teach" Mamdani's "Team Gentrification" allies "a painful lesson on June 23, 2026."
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pro-Cuomo super PAC launching $380K field operation in final days of NYC mayoral race
The main super PAC boosting Andrew Cuomo's mayoral campaign is launching a field operation in the final days of the mayor's race to the tune of nearly $380,000 — including more than $100,000 spent on T-shirts for volunteers, new filings show. The expenditure from Fix the City, which has raised nearly $20 million in support of Cuomo, comes after the ex-governor's main rival in the Democratic mayoral primary, Zohran Mamdani, has mounted a major field game, deploying tens of thousands of mostly unpaid canvassers to knock doors for him and hand out campaign literature across the five boroughs. Cuomo's campaign hasn't launched its own paid field operation, so Fix the City's effort fills a void just as the June 24 primary campaign enters the final few days. The PAC, which is largely being funded by billionaire business titans like ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg and cosmetics tycoon William Lauder, first plunked down $173,875 on June 12 to hire Bartholomew Communications and Strategies, a Manhattan consulting firm, to manage the field operation, disclosures show. The PAC then paid the firm another $109,044 on June 16 for the field operation work. In addition, Fix the City paid Mainland Media, a Bronx-based design company, $104,105 to manufacture hundreds of T-shirts emblazoned with Fix the City's logo and the phrase: 'Vote for Cuomo: The mayor for this moment.' Liz Benjamin, a spokeswoman for Fix the City, confirmed Wednesday the T-shirts are for the field workers hitting the streets for get-out-the-vote efforts. She also confirmed the field operation is underway, but declined to divulge how many volunteers the super PAC is dispatching or which neighborhoods they are targeting. Reached over the phone, Barry Caro, president of Bartholomew Communications and Strategies, declined to comment. Besides Fix the City, some of the labor unions backing Cuomo, like the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and the District Council of Carpenters, have launched field efforts for him, too. Unlike Fix the City, those labor unions are also focusing on driving turnout for various other candidates they are backing in down-ballot races. Cuomo, a moderate Democrat who resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual misconduct and pandemic mismanagement accusations he denies, continues to poll as the favorite to win Tuesday's primary. Mamdani, a democratic socialist running on a platform that includes a promise to freeze rent for stabilized tenants, has recently closed in on Cuomo in some polls, though. Field operation is perhaps the one campaigning area in which Cuomo has lagged behind Mamdani. Mamdani's army of some 42,000 unpaid volunteers are managed by 14 full-time campaign staffers who have for months been getting paid tens of thousands of dollars for that work. Though most of its volunteers aren't paid, Mamdani's campaign does also employ 54 paid canvassers and expects to spend about $185,000 in total on that front, according to a rep. When Fix the City is factored in, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on television ads and campaign mailers advertising Cuomo's bid to become the next mayor. Early voting in the mayoral race started last weekend. New Yorkers can continue voting early through Sunday and will then have a final chance to cast their ballots on Primary Day.
Wall Street Journal
10-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg Endorses Cuomo for New York City Mayor
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed Andrew Cuomo's mayoral campaign, giving the former governor of New York a boost from a prominent moderate political voice heading into the final weeks before the Democratic primary. Bloomberg said Tuesday he has had his differences with Cuomo over the years, but when they disagreed, Cuomo showed strengths as a leader and a manager.
