The democratic socialist balloon deflated this week. With disgraced self-described socialist Graham Platner (D) exiting the race to replace longtime Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, the far-left wing of the Democrat Party suffered a big blow. After winning recent primary races in New York and Colorado, the elimination of the accused rapist brought the soaring far left back to earth — at least, for the moment.
The socialist wing of the Democratic Party has gotten over its skis. It assumed on the basis of a few primary wins a measure of power and clout that it had not yet earned. The group exudes arrogance — perhaps the predictable attribute of a youthful and energetic movement that has toppled some notable party stalwarts — and today threatens establishment leaders like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
Nowhere is that arrogance more evident than in the administration of one of the movement’s leaders, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. So confident is the socialist that instead of working to broaden his base, Mamdani seems determined to offend as many people as possible. Eventually, this will prove his undoing.
Mamdani became the first Muslim and the first South Asian to take over City Hall, mainly by attracting young voters. By election time, he had expanded his appeal, winning over large numbers of Blacks and Hispanic voters. These days, he seems intent on reversing those gains. Defying political norms, he has gone out of his way to offend groups — Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, Catholics and others — that have been important historically in the Big Apple.
He has also emphasized in numerous ways his allegiance to his Muslim roots and his dislike of Israel. As mayor of a city attacked by Islamic terrorists on 9/11, only 25 years ago, that seems a strange path.
On his first day in office, Mamdani’s administration ditched the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which predecessor Eric Adams had adopted. It was a shot across the bow.
He also upended convention by becoming the first mayor in more than 60 years to skip the Israel Day parade. He accuses the Israeli government of “genocide” and, early on, he refused to criticize the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which many Jews consider a call to violence against them.
Among other perceived slights, Mamdani has opposed legislation providing protections against protesters for Jews attending synagogues and Jewish schools, though the city council ultimately provided such measures by a veto-proof vote. He has called for divestment from Israel’s economy, and during the recent Democratic primaries criticized political spending by pro-Israel lobbyist AIPAC, whom he called “monsters” — a term some Jewish leaders said echoed classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish money and power.
Some 33 percent of New York’s Jews helped elect Mamdani last year. In May, polling by advocacy group The Jewish Majority found support from that group dwindling amid rising concern about antisemitism.
Jews are not the only group the mayor has offended. He also defied a decades-old tradition by skipping the installation ceremony of Ronald Hicks as the new Catholic Archbishop of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan. And it’s not that he is above mixing religion with politics — the same week, Mamdani “put out a tweet marking World Hijab Day,” the New York Post reported, and recommended an immigration policy based on the example of the Islamic prophet Muhammed. One-third of New Yorkers are Catholic — Mamdani doesn’t appear to care.
Mamdani also offended the Puerto Rican community earlier this year by canceling the annual pre-Puerto Rican Day Parade reception at Gracie Mansion, which typically hosts local officials and Latino community leaders. Hit with backlash over the snub, Mamdani’s office countered with a hastily convened luncheon, to which, according to the Post, the mayor “mainly invited younger radicals in good standing with his Democratic socialist movement.”
In May, Mamdani’s administration released a map meant to celebrate the ethnic diversity of the city and its immigrant roots. The chart included Little Palestine and Little Pakistan but omitted Little Italy, one of the best-known neighborhoods in Manhattan. The map included Little Mexico, Little Guyana and Little Bhod-Tibet, but failed to recognize well known Irish enclaves like Woodlawn and Sunnyside. Not surprisingly, the map omitted Jewish neighborhoods.
Italians were offended, and rightly so. Little Italy was established by immigrants in the 19th century and has long been a tourist mecca, featuring iconic restaurants like Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry Street. Umberto’s is famous not just for its seafood, but also because it was the site of a mob hit in which Joseph “Crazy Joe” Gallo was shot in broad daylight.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola was among those who called out the mayor for the seemingly purposeful oversight, telling the New York Post, “Do the Irish and Italians not count for the Mayor’s Office?” The answer, it would seem, is no.
Perhaps the most glaring recent snub by the Mamdani team was the notable absence from America’s 250th birthday celebration of the mayor’s wife. During a weekend when our country came together to hail the founding of this exceptional nation, New York’s first lady, Rama Duwaji, traveled to Mallorca for an Islamic spiritual event titled “Plants of the Quran.” As one Republican official said, “This was a moment to show up for the city and for the country.”
It seems an odd slight to the country that has offered her and her Uganda-born husband enormous opportunity and success. But the gesture fits with Mamdani’s and the Democratic Socialists of America’s overweening conviction that the U.S. is a deeply flawed country, and that only they can fix it. That is the definition of arrogance; it is also wrong, on both counts.
Read Liz Peek’s full column on The Hill here.
