Zohran Mamdani supporters unfazed by Trump’s ‘communist’ label, defend the candidate’s affordability fight

Since Zohran Mamdani’s primary upset earlier this summer, the New York City Democratic mayoral nominee has been branded a “communist” by President Donald Trump. 

Mamdani supporters, who spoke to Fox News Digital at a canvass launch in Prospect Park on Sunday, dismissed the term, arguing that his primary win represented more than arbitrary labels. 

“It’s not necessarily communism that won the New York City primary, but the vision that he’s delivering for a more affordable New York,” Nina, a door-knocker wearing an “Educators for Zohran” T-shirt, said. “That’s what people voted for, and that’s what he won on, and that’s what he’s going to win on.”

Mamdani is a self-described Democratic socialist who has been endorsed by progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Trump was quick to label him a “100% Communist Lunatic” after Mamdani declared victory in June. 

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Perry, another Brooklyn canvasser, flipped the script on Trump’s nickname for Mamdani, telling Fox News Digital to “look at the people who are saying he can’t do it or who are calling him a socialist or communist.”

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Bridget, a New York City teacher, and Perry both shook their heads in disagreement when asked if those labels worry them. 

“It’s not about ideology,” Nicholas, a Mamdani supporter who volunteered in Prospect Park on Sunday for the campaign’s canvass launch, said. “It’s not trying to demonize these terms, communism and socialism, which, quite frankly, I think the American public does not have a very good idea of what those terms exactly mean.”

Nicholas said Mamdani’s campaign is “much bigger than that.”

Among the few dozen supporters who attended the canvass launch, many were teachers. 

“I want a mayor who’s going to stand up for students,” Bridget said, telling Fox News Digital that it’s critical New York City has a mayor who is “going to fight against the Trump administration for the rights and safety of our students.”

Mamdani concluded his “Five Boroughs Against Trump” tour across New York City last week, visiting a borough a day to spotlight how the Trump administration’s sweeping second-term agenda, on key issues including immigration and the economy, is impacting everyday New Yorkers. 

“I have a lot of students coming from immigrant backgrounds who are worried about their safety, about their parents’ safety,” Nicholas said. “I have kids who are worried that ICE agents will come into the school and take them out of the classroom.”

Nicholas explained that’s why having a candidate like Mamdani, who is committed to protecting immigrant communities from “what Trump and his cronies are trying to do, in disappearing people,” is so important to him. 

“Having a mayor who stands up against that firmly and boldly, that’s why I’m out here,” he added. “That’s why I want Zohran to be mayor.”

Perry said she supports Mamdani because he “has a large vision for the city,” particularly on housing. 

“Let’s be big again,” Perry added, telling Fox News Digital that she loves his “upbeatness” and “openness,” the likes of which she said, “We haven’t seen in a while.”

Mamdani has vowed to freeze rents if elected this November. He has accused Adams of appointing Rent Guidelines Board members to raise rents on stabilized apartments. 

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s board voted to freeze the rent three times during his tenure. 

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the primary to Mamadani, called the socialist’s plan to freeze rent “politically convenient posture,” and said such a move would hurt landlords who would be “unable to maintain their buildings.”

Nina said that Mamdani’s campaign promises, including fast and free buses and universal child care, “address the affordability crisis in New York City” that creates a trickle-down impact on New Yorkers, like her high school students. 

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“I’m out here as an educator,” Nina said. “I’m here as a New Yorker who was raised here, who wants to stay here.”

Under Mamdani’s leadership, Nina said she believes it’s possible.