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Democratic New York City mayoral candidate and self-described socialist Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism over remarks made at a Young Democratic Socialists of America conference, where he urged attendees not to compromise on goals like “seizing the means of production.”
During the appearance — which was part of a 2021 YDSA winter conference — Mamdani, then newly elected to the New York State Assembly, lamented that many socialist principles remain outside the political mainstream.
“Right now, if we’re talking about the cancellation of student debt, if we’re talking about Medicare for all, you know, these are issues which have the groundswell of popular support across this country,” Mamdani says in a video to conference goers. “But then there are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it’s BDS or whether it is the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment.”
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Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, left, raises hands with Reverend Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, during a campaign event at the NAN House of Justice in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mamdani went on to say that it was “critical” for people not to compromise on these less popular ideas, despite publicly asserting this week he is “not a communist.”
“It’s critical, the way that we organize, the way that we set up our — you know, set up our work and our priorities, that we do not leave any one issue for the other, that we do not meet a moment and only look at what people are ready for, but that we are doing both of these things in tandem,” Mamdani continues in his conference address. “Because it is critical for us to both meet people where they’re at and to also organize for what is correct and for what is right, and to ensure that, over time, we can bring people to that issue.”
On Monday, the video of Mamdani speaking at the 2021 YDSA conference began making the rounds on social media.
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“Mamdani’s socialism nomenclature is no joke or aspiration,” billionaire Bill Ackman said in response to the video as it began appearing on social media. “It is the business plan of a movement that he is leading and, for now, winning. Don’t rely on my summary. Listen to him speak his own words.”
“Mamdani smiles like a crocodile as he says his end goal is to elect more socialists and seize the means of production,” President Donald Trump’s crypto and artificial intelligence czar added in response to the video. “Democrats have become the party of the Luigi Left, Tesla Terrorism, and Crocodile Communists.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for a response to these criticisms but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, rolls up his sleeves during a campaign event in New York on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg)
Last week, Trump personally criticized Mamdani, who upset former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the NYC mayoral primary earlier this month, as a “100% communist lunatic.”
“It’s finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line,” Trump wrote. “We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous.” Trump doubled down on the communist claim this week in an interview with Fox Business, adding that, if elected, Mamdani better “behave” or risk his city losing federal funding.
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Trump called Mamdani a “100% Communist lunatic” after his Tuesday night Democratic primary win in the race to become New York City’s next mayor. (Getty Images)
In response to Trump’s criticism of being a “communist,” Mamdani directly refuted the claim to NBC News over the weekend.
“No, I am not,” Mamdani responded when asked point-blank by NBC’s Kristen Welker. “I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for. And I’m fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower that he has since then betrayed.
“When we talk about my politics, you know, I call myself a Democratic socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. [Martin Luther] King from decades ago, who said, ‘Call it democracy, call it Democratic-Socialism, there has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.”
