Updated July 1, 2025 at 12:30 PM EDT
When Zohran Mamdani launched his mayoral campaign for New York City last year, many wrote off his chances.
He's a South Asian Muslim Democratic socialist. He faced resistance from his own party's establishment. Even The New York Times editorial board told voters not to support the 33-year-old.
And even though Mamdani tried hard to keep affordability at the center of his campaign, others tried to define his identity with unsubstantiated claims that he would promote Islamic law, that he supports terrorism and that he's an antisemite.
"There are a lot of concerns based on a caricature of myself," Mamdani said on Morning Edition. "I don't blame New Yorkers for having that caricature because they've had to deal with more than $30 million of spending that paints me in that manner — that smears and slanders me, that artificially lengthens the color and the length of my beard, that calls me a monster."
But for the most part New Yorkers didn't fall for it. Mamdani is now the Democratic candidate after getting the most votes in the primary last week. He is one step closer to becoming mayor of the nation's largest city.
On Monday, NPR's Leila Fadel sat down with Mamdani in New York City to discuss the lessons his victory holds for his party and how he plans to implement his policies if he becomes mayor despite skepticism about their feasibility.
Mamdani clarified remarks he made on NBC News' Meet the Press about billionaires, saying, "I think the better question is whether working people have the right to exist, because what we've seen in this city is that more and more working people are being pushed out."
Asked about his proposals, like free public transit and expanded childcare, he acknowledged that many of his ideas would need state-level support, particularly from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has voiced skepticism and so far has not endorsed him. But he remained optimistic, citing his success in launching New York City's first fare-free bus pilot as evidence that progressive reform is achievable.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Leila Fadel: Let's talk about your policies, because one of the criticisms that your detractors have is that it sounds great to have free childcare and free buses and groceries that you can afford. But a lot of what you're promising is out of the mayor's hand. It's something that will have to happen at the state level. It will have to happen with other actors. So how, how can you actually fulfill any of these promises?
Zohran Mamdani: Any mayor that has an ambition that meets the scale of the crisis of the people that they're seeking to represent will have to work with Albany. And the reason that I put forward this agenda is not only because it's urgent, but because it's feasible. I say that to you as an assembly member who won the first fare free bus pilot in New York City, who saw that in making buses free. It wasn't simply about economic relief. It's also about public safety, the fact that assaults on bus drivers went down by 38.9% through this pilot, the fact that we actually saw an increase in riders who had previously been driving a car or taking a taxi, reducing congestion around those same routes. These are the reasons why we pursue this agenda.
Fadel: The way that you say you're going to pay for these programs is by increasing the corporate taxes on corporations and then also an income tax on anybody who makes over a million dollars, right?
Mamdani: The top 1% of New Yorkers.
Fadel: So again, that's a non-starter for Gov. Kathy Hochul, she said that. So how are you going to pay for it?
Mamdani: I've appreciated my conversations with the governor, and one thing that I really appreciate about our current governor, Kathy Hochul, is she is laser focused on affordability. And what we've seen is that these policies I'm speaking to you about, they are not just policies that people are voting for, incidentally, while they're voting for me, they're voting for this platform.
Fadel: But again, what makes you confident about the coalition building when you're hearing the governor say it's a non-starter, she hasn't also endorsed you yet, as these other leaders within your party have not done?
Mamdani: The experience that I've had. Over this campaign, there was a time when many of the ideas we were putting forward were considered to be distinct to our campaign, and yet, as we built it, more and more candidates started to embrace those same policies, and I am confident of seeing that happen across the political spectrum. Even Andrew Cuomo, in his own transportation plan, said that he wanted to explore making buses free. That was a recognition of the popularity of that as a proposal.
Fadel: You made some waves this weekend when you said that you didn't believe that billionaires had the right to exist. What does that mean?
Mamdani: I was speaking about the stark nature of income inequality in this city and in this country, and ultimately, I think the better question is whether working people have the right to exist, because what we've seen in this city is that more and more working people are being pushed out. The vision that I'm speaking about, it's a vision that I want everyone to enjoy and benefit from, including billionaires. Though my taxes that I'm proposing are ones that would be on the top 1% of New Yorkers, on the most profitable corporations, it's not taxes that will detract from their life. It's, in fact, taxes that will benefit everyone across the city, including those who are being taxed. And ultimately, this is not an interest in taxation in and of itself. It's an interest in finding revenue to pay for something that will transform life in the city.
Fadel: So you weren't proposing that your policies would ultimately lead to a New York with no billionaires?
Mamdani: No, that's not what I was proposing.
Fadel: You are going to have what looks like a tough race in November. You already have people like billionaire Bill Ackman saying he'll give hundreds of millions of dollars to anybody who runs against you.
Mamdani: I think he also said some nice things, nice things about me as well.
Fadel: What else did he say?
Mamdani: I think he said that I was smart, which I appreciated. Thank you, Bill.
Fadel: Well, okay, but he also doesn't want you to be mayor of New York City, you know, and there are other corporations, wealthy New Yorkers, who feel the same way, and there are some people who fear your candidacy. You have support among some Jewish voters, and you have some Jewish voters who are extremely skeptical of you and afraid of your candidacy.
Mamdani: My job is to lead this entire city. My job is to address those very concerns that New Yorkers may have, be it for whatever basis. My commitment is now to have meetings with New Yorkers who may be concerned. Maybe it's, you know, a business leader who is worried about the impact of my tax proposals, and I get to share the fact that these are proposals that will make it easier for them to attract and retain talent. If I can speak with a Jewish New Yorker who's concerned about the issue of antisemitism, and I can share the fact that this is a real crisis that we have to tackle, and one that I'm committed to doing so through increased funding for actually preventing hate crimes across the city, and make it clear time and again that my commitment is to protect Jewish New Yorkers and that I will live up to that commitment through my actions. And that's what these next many months are about.
Fadel: You know, the thing that was very clear in the weeks before and the days after the primary was this barrage of racist, anti-Muslim attacks on you, equating you to a terrorist, saying you're a danger to the safety of Americans, especially Jewish Americans. I'm going to repeat some of the attacks, not because I think they're okay to say, but I want listeners to understand what's being said. And it's not just from the right wing and Republicans in office. It's also from other influential figures. Deborah Messing of Will & Grace posted online that you sided with terrorists and you celebrated 9/11. You were nine when that happened. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace posted a picture of you in your Eid outfit and wrote, "After 9/11 we said, "Never Forget." I think we sadly have forgotten." Republican Rep. Andy Ogles called you "little Muhammad," and said you need to be deported, and is calling for your denaturalization. Were you prepared for this level of bigotry?
Mamdani: It's unsurprising, and yet it's still deeply saddening. As many Muslims in this country know, to exist in public life is to have to deal with this kind of slander at a different scale, and it's part of why so many have thought that the safest place to live is in the shadows, and so much of my hope for this campaign was to bring the margins of our city into the mainstream. It's been very difficult to see just how much of this hatred has been normalized. And as you've said, it's, it's not just Republican Congress people. It's an actress from a show that I used to watch as a kid. I think that ultimately my responsibility is to show that our vision for this city, it's a vision that is universal. It's a vision that wants to recognize the belonging of each and every New Yorker, and it's in stark contrast to this exclusionary vision that we see from so many, one that seeks to distract people from an inability to take care of working people by designating the enemies as the other. One of the most difficult parts of this, however, have been that the threats that have been made on my life and on people that I love are ones that fundamentally transform how you can live.
Fadel: And so it's changed how you can live?
Mamdani: It has. The fact that I now have to have security at all times. It's a different way of engaging with the world. But my responsibility is to showcase that this is but a drop in the bucket of how people actually feel in the city. Just a few days after I received a number of death threats and someone who said that he was going to blow up my car, which was news to me, because I don't own a car. I walked the length of Manhattan to speak to New Yorkers. And I did it because I think, though, the way that we defeat this bigotry is by showcasing just how small of a minority it actually represents.
The digital version of this interview was edited and produced by Majd Al-Waheidi. Video edited by Courtney Theophin and Nick Michael.
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