Socialist mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani pledged to stick to his far-left agenda even if he wins the general election by a slim margin — a blow to business leaders who are hoping a tight race would soften his radical proposals.
The DSA lawmaker appeared on CNN Friday night where anchor Abby Phillip asked Mamdani about how he would lead the Big Apple if he wins in November “with one-third of the electorate,” — presuming the election comes down to a tight three-candidate race.
“If you were to win in that place, would you see that as a mandate to do all the things that you’ve run on,” Phillips asked, noting he could reach City Hall without the support of a majority of voters who may take issue with his policies and political experience.
But Mamdani didn’t budge.
“If you win an election, you have to govern to fulfill the promises of that. Otherwise, what is the point of our politics,” the 33-year-old Queens Assemblyman told Phillips.
“I think I’ll often have Tim Walz, who’s spoken about the point of political capital, is to use it to actually deliver on those commitments,” Mamdani said in an odd shoutout to the failed vice presidential candidate and current governor of the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
“That’s what I would do. And confident bringing even more New Yorkers into the political process like we did in June, where we saw the largest number of young people coming out to vote that we’ve seen in recent history in the city,” Mamdani concluded.
Mamdani trounced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Cuomo, along with Mayor Eric Adams, are running as independents while Curtis Sliwa is the Republican nominee.
Mamdani’s proposals include a 2% tax hike on millionaires, a 4.5% increase on corporations and city-owned grocery stores — all of which has sparked fear among some Big Apple power players.
“They are hoping at least Cuomo makes it close so Mamdani doesn’t have a mandate,” a real estate source said.
The hemming and hawing about the increasingly likely Mamdani win in November has even President Trump weighing in on the race.
The president issued a deadline via billionaire businessman and grocery maven John Catsimatidis for two candidates in the crowded field to drop out.
“He is concerned about the New York City race. He does not want a socialist mayor, and he said, ‘It’s not going to happen’ under his watch,” Catsimatidis told The Post.
“At the end of the next 10 days, he wants the most qualified candidate to beat Mamdani,” the Gristedes owner relayed.
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