‘Socialists Are at the Gate!’ NYC Mayoral Race Heats Up With Scathing Attack Ad On Progressive Candidate
Credit: Katie Godowski / MediaPunch /IPX
The rhetoric in New York City’s mayoral race reached new levels of vitriol this week as moderate businessman Whitney Tilson dropped a scathing attack ad on leading progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani.
The ad begins with a narrator saying, “The socialists are at the gate, and Zohran Mamdani is leading the pack.”
“If they take over New York City, this is what they said they will do. Defund the police. Consequences for genocidal Zionist imperialism. Abolish capitalism. You can stop Zohran and his socialist comrades from running New York City into the ground,” concludes the ad with a pitch to vote for Tilson.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has led the race for much of the year with Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly, polling in second place. The mayoral primary is ranked-choice voting, asking each voter to rank five candidates in order of preference. A recent Emerson College poll out this week, which surveyed 500 registered voters, showed Cuomo prevailing over Mamdani 54% to 46% in a head-to-head race. Mamdani is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) decided to skip the Democratic primary and will run instead as an independent.
The first Democratic mayoral primary debate will be on June 4, with nine candidates qualifying for the debate stage.
Mamdani was also on the receiving end of an attack from Republican New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino this week. “Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a US citizen for ten years—much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about. Deport,” Paladino wrote on X Monday night, sharing a post from Mamdani in 2019 saying that when he is a citizen in 2020, he plans to vote for Bernie Sanders for president.
Mamdani hit back on Tuesday morning, saying, “Death threats. Islamophobic bigotry. Now a sitting Councilmember calling for my deportation. Enough. This is what Trump and his sycophants have wrought. It’s an assault on the values of our city and our Constitution. Will Cuomo condemn this or will that upset his MAGA donors?”
Watch the clip above.
