President Donald Trump believes Zohran Mamdani would be “very bad” for the Big Apple and if elected, the Democratic socialist could put New York City’s federal funding at risk.
“He’s a communist… a pure communist,” Trump said of New York State Assemblyman and mayoral race frontrunner Mamdani on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo.
“Let’s say this, if he does get in, I’m going to be president, and he’s going to have to do the right thing,” Trump continued. “They’re not getting any money. He’s got to do the right thing.”
CRITICS SAY SOCIALIST MAYORAL FRONTRUNNER THREATENS N.Y.C.’S ECONOMIC CAPITAL
Last week, upstart progressive Zohran Mamdani shocked the political world, as he topped former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the rest of the 11-candidate field in heavily blue New York City’s Democratic Party mayoral primary and took a big step toward becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist state assemblyman from Queens who originally hailed from Uganda, captured 43.5% of the first round unofficial primary results, with Cuomo at 36.4%.
“I think it’s very bad for New York. I don’t know that he’s going to get in, it is inconceivable that he is,” President Trump reacted on Sunday. “It’s shocking… I used to say we will never have a socialist in this country. No, but we’ll have a communist. I mean, he’s a communist and going to be mayor of New York. So I was very surprised.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The Big Apple’s potential future mayor’s various proposals include eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children, city-owned grocery stores and creating a new Department of Community Safety aimed at preventing violence before it occurs.
“He’s a radical-left lunatic,” Trump said. “I can tell you this – whoever’s mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves, or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially.“
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
