Mamdani Takes Victory Lap Following Mayoral Election, Cozying Up to Democratic Establishment and Trump

Read our article on the New York City mayoral race here.

Since clinching his mayoral victory, Zohran Mamdani has moved quickly to consolidate his position within the Democratic Party establishment. Far from representing a break with the old order, Mamdani has become its newest broker between disillusioned voters and the ruling-class institutions he once claimed he would confront. Winning more than one million votes, the first NYC mayoral candidate to do so in half a century, Mamdani has given the Democrat mafia exactly what it needed: a fresh face to funnel the people back into a party experiencing its lowest levels of legitimacy at least in decades.

Instead of the radical rupture promised by his billionaire-backed campaign, what has unfolded is a carefully choreographed reassurance tour to calm the city’s elites.

One of the clearest signs came before Election Day, with Mamdani’s decision to retain Jessica Tisch as police commissioner of the NYPD. Tisch—billionaire heiress, fanatical Zionist, and architect of escalated repression against Palestine solidarity organizers—was praised by Mamdani as a “highly effective change agent.”

For activists on the ground, her “effectiveness” has meant intensified surveillance, targeted arrests, and criminalization of political dissent. Last week, she accepted the position and, at Mamdani’s request, appeared alongside him at the NYPD Police Memorial, the pair smiling and exchanging mutual admiration. Their alliance has drawn applause from the likes of current NYC Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and imperialist-in-chief Donald Trump.

Already the mayor-elect criticized a Palestine solidarity protest in Manhattan opposing a Zionist event promoting relocation to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. While Mamdani criticized the protesters’ “language” and accused them of “intimidation”, he remained silent on the Zionist recruitment efforts.

Mamdani announced a transition team made up of fixtures from the de Blasio, Adams, and Bloomberg NYC mayoral administrations. Picks like Elana Leopold (de Blasio strategist), Melanie Hartzog (former deputy mayor), Grace Bonilla (Bloomberg alum), and Lina Khan (chair of the Federal Trade Commission under Biden) demonstrate that the monopolists’ confidence in Mamdani remains intact.

Policy signals have shifted accordingly. A central campaign pledge—to increase taxes on the wealthy in order to fund universal childcare—has since been downplayed, with Mamdani now stating that “there is plenty of revenue in the existing budget.” During the annual Somos Conference in Puerto Rico, Governor Kathy Hochul publicly rejected another key proposal: free city buses. “I cannot set forth a plan that takes money out of a system that relies on fares,” she said. Standing beside her, Mamdani described the moment as one of “a united front.”

It appears that in the big tent of Mamdani’s united front, there is ample room for the big bourgeoisie and all of its representatives—not only establishment Democrats, but the leader of the Republican mafia as well, the imperialist-in-chief Donald Trump. On Friday, after a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, the President told reporters, “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought.” A senior Mamdani adviser characterized their team as “heartened” by the meeting and that the pair discussed New York City’s affordability crisis—brought on and intensified by the very monopolists and their representatives Mamdani has been breaking bread with.

Later that day, during a joint press conference, a reporter asked Mamdani whether he considers Trump a fascist. As Mamdani began bloviating, Trump quickly interjected with a smile, saying, “That’s okay. You can just say yes. That’s easier.” Mamdani quietly replied, “Okay, yes,” with his characteristic grin.

In a November 23 follow-up interview with monopoly NBC, Mamdani was asked about this moment and again confirmed his views that he believes Trump is a fascist, demonstrating the danger of social democracy: on the one hand, falsely identifying his opposition as “fascist” in order to gain an electoral advantage, and on the other, promoting collaboration with fascism as a useful means of improving the lives of people.

Mamdani has even broken ranks with his own fellow Democratic Socialists of America member, campaign ally and Brooklyn Councilmember Chi Ossé, by publicly discouraging him from mounting a primary challenge against Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries, whose top donors include the leading Zionist lobbying group AIPAC, finance giant BlackRock, and the largest arms manufacturer in the world Lockheed Martin, endorsed Mamdani’s campaign back in October; now, Mamdani returns the favor by backing Jeffries and warding off his challengers. In a November 23 interview with monopoly media NBC, Mamdani again unequivocally stated his support for Jeffries to keep his position.

Photo: Trump and Mamdani shaking hands at the White House. Screen grab from White House video.

---

The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today: