United States President Donald Trump has called Indian-origin lawmaker Zohran Kwame Mamdani a "100 per cent communist lunatic" after he won the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor.
Trump also criticised other progressive leaders who support Mamdani, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Senator Chuck Schumer, after former New York governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the election.
"It's finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor. We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous," the Republican said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens and the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, stunned in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor, upsetting former governor Andrew Cuomo.
“In the words of Nelson Mandela: it always seems impossible until it's done. My friends, it is done. And you are the ones who did it. I am honoured to be your Democratic nominee for the Mayor of New York City,” Mamdani said in a post on X after his win.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist running for Mayor, was born in Uganda and raised in New York City.
Mamdani has vowed that as Mayor, he will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilised tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent.
Promising fast, fare-free buses, his campaign said that as Mayor, he'll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way.
Mamdani would also implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high-quality programming for all families.
With food prices out of control, his campaign also promised that as Mayor, he would create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.
Mandani has a plan to bring down the cost-of-living through city-owned grocery stores, universal childcare, and other bold proposals, and he knows exactly how to pay for it, too, the campaign said.
His “revenue plan will raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey's 11.5 per cent, bringing in USD 5 billion. And he will tax the wealthiest 1 per cent of New Yorkers — those earning above USD 1 million annually — a flat 2 per cent tax (right now city income tax rates are essentially the same whether you make USD 50,000 or USD 50 million)”, it said adding that he will also implement common-sense procurement reform, end senseless no-bid contracts, hire more tax auditors, and crack down on fine collection from corrupt landlords to raise an additional USD 1 billion.
“New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier,” his platform said.
With inputs from PTI
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