President Donald Trump’s open threats against New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani have not only failed to slow down Mamdani’s campaign as the Democratic Party nominee to win the general election — but have actually bolstered his support among voters, a senior advisor for Mamdani claimed Wednesday.
Mamdani, whose surprise victory in the Democratic primary election this summer sparked panic among Wall Street elites over his progressive policy agenda, has been the target of Trump for months.
In September, Trump hinted that he would meddle in the election, and subsequent reporting suggested he had offered incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams a job in his administration in exchange for dropping out of the race, clearing the field for a more competitive race between Mamadani and former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani defeated Cuomo, who had previously resigned from office amid sexual harassment allegations, in the primary, though Cuomo has continued to run as an independent.
And on Monday, Trump outright threatened to withhold federal funding for New York City should Mamdani ultimately win the election.
However, Trump’s latest threat appeared to backfire hard in allowing Mamdani to position himself as a formidable anti-Trump figure, according to the Mamdani insider who spoke with The New Republic reporter Greg Sargent in a report published Wednesday.
“A senior Mamdani adviser tells me that internal campaign polling shows that attacking Trump’s abuses along these lines resonates favorably for Mamdani,” Sargent wrote.
“Research conducted this month found that a large majority of New York voters – 65% – see messaging as ‘convincing’ when it criticizes the prospect of Trump sabotaging the election for Cuomo and attacks his Justice Department’s dropping of corruption charges against Adams, also a Trump ally.”
The advisor went on to say that Mamdani’s anti-Trump messaging was particularly effective among working-class voters across a wide variety of nationalities and demographics.
Mamdani’s campaign messaging has included pledges to implement rent freezes, build more public housing, increase taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents, launch city-owned grocery stores, and raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, among other initiatives. He handily defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary, earning 43.5% of the vote share to Cuomo’s 36.4%, though Cuomo has pledged to stay in the race.