Zohran Mamdani’s most shocking views from wanting to defund the police to arresting Netanyahu as he wins NYC mayoral primary

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is tipped to be New York City’s next mayor after he claimed victory in the city’s primary last night.

But the 33-year-old who calls himself ‘Trump’s worst nightmare’ is looking to implement a series of woke policies that would drastically reshape the city.

The firebrand lefty who has won the backing of progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders – says he wants to tax the wealthy, dole out free childcare and spend $65million on transgender care. 

His campaign has pushed populist ideas like free public buses, rent freezes for rent-stabilized apartments, and grocery stores that would be owned by the city.

He has also advocated for defunding the city’s police department, defended pro- Palestine slogans like ‘globalize the intifada’ and said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has vowed to ‘fight back’ against president Donald Trump, saying that he is the Republican’s ‘worst nightmare’ because he is a ‘progressive, Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things I believe in’.

Mamdani – a state legislator – took down scandal scarred ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo and several others in the primary, the results of which won’t be officially confirmed until July 1 due to the city’s ranked choice voting system. 

In his victory speech given late Tuesday night and attended by lefty celebrities like actress Cynthia Nixon, actor Kal Penn and Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, he referred to Trump as a fascist to cheers from the crowd.

‘We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city that they can afford. A city where they can do more than just struggle. And it is where the mayor will use their power to reject Donald Trump’s fascism,’ he said.

Mamdani speaks to his supporters during an election night party in the Queens borough of New York City

His campaign has pushed populist ideas like free public buses, rent freezes for rent-stabilized apartments, and grocery stores that would be owned by the city

Stance on Israel  

In a city torn apart over Israel’s campaign against Hamas following the October 7 attacks, he has been called to show support Israel’s right to exist. 

His pro-Palestinian stance has sparked outrage amongst the Jewish communities, which make up a large portion of the city, and makes up the largest population of Jewish people outside of Israel.

Mamdani has defended his use of the term ‘genocide’ to describe Israeli military actions in Gaza, while also saying that he would ‘protect Jewish New Yorkers’.

In his 17-page public safety plan, released in April, he says he has a vision of a New York City ‘free from hate violence’ and speaks of cracking down on antisemitism. 

He had also previously vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he ever travel to New York City. 

Mamdani said the basis for the arrest would follow the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last November. 

‘This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also’, he said.

On Monday night he appeared alongside fellow Democratic candidate Brad Lander, a reform Jew who once considered becoming a rabbi, on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’, and was questioned over his stance. 

He and Lander – New York City’s comptroller – endorsed each other in hopes of ‘sending Cuomo back to the suburbs,’ Mamdani told Colbert. 

Colbert pushed him on his refusal to condemn calls to ‘globalize the intifada’, adding: ‘They are afraid that your mayorship would actually lead to increased antisemitism.’

The question teed up Mamdani to denounce antisemitism while not addressing his past statements, which have included calls to ‘globalize the intifada’ that some say is a call to violence against Jews.

Mamdani speaks outside the White House to announce a hunger strike to demand that President Joe Biden “call for a permanent ceasefire and no military aid to Israel in November 2023

Ella Emhoff, Karina Muslimova, and Kareem Rahma arrive at Democratic primary winner for Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani’s primary party in Queens

When asked during a podcast interview last week if the phrase made him uncomfortable, Mamdani merely said it captured ‘a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.’

During the interview, Colbert asked Mamdani and Lander about Israel and whether they believe it ‘has the right to exist.’

‘Yes, like all nations. I believe it has a right to exist, and a responsibility also to uphold international law,’ Mamdani said.

Mamdani has previously said he hopes Palestinians gain political agency peacefully and that his criticism of the Israeli government is not equivalent to antisemitism. 

After the podcast appearance, Jewish leaders including Rep. Daniel Goldman and the Anti-Defamation League criticized Mamdani for his remarks. 

The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC even weighed in, calling his comments both ‘outrageous and especially offensive’.

LGBTQ issues

Mamdani wants to spend $65 million in taxpayer funds for a transgender treatment facility, including for minors, if elected. 

His campaign site says his administration would also form its own Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.

He has vowed to protect gender-affirming care with the $65 million investment to ‘care to New Yorkers who seek it’.

$57 million would be handed out to public hospitals, community clinics, federal health centers and nonprofits, $8 million would expand services, the site says. 

Mamdani first announced the protection plan last month at a Trans Community Town Hill meeting flanked by activists. 

The New York Sun who first reported on the spending plan noted that it was unclear if the proposed plan would pay for only medication, or gender surgery as well. 

Mamdani defended the spending while attacking hospitals in the city who had stopped providing gender-affirming care for minors under threat from President Trump.

Mamdani is seen here alongside his wife Rama Duwaji, as the two celebrate his win on Tuesday

Mamdani first announced the protection plan last month at a Trans Community Town Hill meeting flanked by activists, seen here

His campaign site says his administration would also form its own Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs

The president had signed in an executive order aimed at restricting transition surgery for those under the age of 19 earlier this year. 

The order axed federal funding to clinics providing treatment to minors in a bid to ‘rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures’ and compared transgender surgeries to ‘chemical and surgical mutilation.’ A judge has since blocked the order. 

His campaign has also vowed to go after private hospitals who deny youths transgender care. 

According to his website, Mamdani would have New York state Attorney General Letitia James and local DA’s ‘hold them accountable to the law’ via investigations and public hearings.  

Mamdani’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs would be bankrolled with $87 million in funding, his website added. 

Stance on police  

Mamdani has in the past called for the New York City Police Department to be defunded, even branding body a ‘rogue agency’ in one post to his X. 

In other posts that have resurfaced, he also branded the NYPD as ‘wicked and corrupt’, while calling for it to be dismantled. 

If elected, Mamdani said he would not hire more police officers, but instead create a city agency called the Department of Community Safety. 

Proposals to defund or abolish the police are very unpopular, and he seems to have dialed back this rhetoric most recently. 

Speaking during a debate last month with the other candidates, he said: ‘I will not defund the police. I will work with the police because I believe the police have a critical role to play in creating public safety.’

Mamdani added: ‘Sixty-five percent of crimes from the first quarter of this year are still not solved. 

‘We need to ensure that police can focus on those crimes, and [that] we have mental health professionals and social workers to address and tackle and resolve the mental health crisis and homelessness.’

In other posts that have resurfaced, he also branded the NYPD as ‘wicked and corrupt’, while calling for it to be dismantled

Mamdani has in the past called for the New York City Police Department to be defunded, even branding body a ‘rogue agency’ in one post to his X

His Department of Community safety, he says, would focus on expanding on violence interrupter programs and mental health response teams for 911 calls. 

Despite rolling back his previous calls to defund the NYPD, he has said he would cut their overtime budget and the department’s $80 million communications budget.

In an interview with The New York Times, he said: ‘The police have a critical role to play.

‘Right now, we’re relying on them to deal with the failures of our social safety net. This department will pioneer evidence-proven approaches that have been successful elsewhere in the country.’

His plan for the department outlines the cost of building it as $1.1 billion, his team estimated $605 million of that would be transferred from other departments and offices that already exist inside City Hall. 

The remainder, $455 million, would come from new funding sources, which have not all yet been identified.

The ultimate goal, Mamdani says, is to stop crimes before they occur and address the root causes of crime.  

Mamdani holds up a campaign shirt referencing rent prices in the city as he prepares to board the subway on March 24, 2025 in New York City

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) along with New York State Assemblymember Zohran Kwame Mamdani attend the 2025 National Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 08

Taxpayer-funded freebies 

Running his campaign based on the high cost of living in New York City, Mamdani catapulted himself into the race by promising a myriad of freebies. 

Free buses and no-cost childcare are high up on his populist agenda, as well as promises of city-run grocery stores to tackle high prices and freeze rents on rent stabilized apartments. 

To fund his vision, he hopes to procure $10 billion in new revenue through high taxes on businesses and the wealthiest New Yorkers.  

He also has plans to invest $70 billion in publicly subsidized housing, and to open up public land for housing development. 

Mamdani’s site says: ‘We need significantly more affordable housing. But for decades, the City has relied almost entirely on changes to the zoning code to invite and shape private development.

‘We can’t afford to wait for the private sector to solve this crisis. Zohran will triple the City’s production of publicly subsidized, permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes, constructing 200,000 new units over the next 10 years.’ 

Mamdani, seen here on election night, ran his campaign on the high cost of living in New York City

Mamdani took down scandal scarred ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo, seen here on election night, and several others in the primary

In a city where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 a month, his message clearly struck a chord. 

A Politico review of his proposals found he had widely underestimated the actual cost of housing construction and school rehab plans by tens of billions of dollars. 

Former New York state Governor David Paterson told the outlet: ‘He articulates his points very well, and they make sense. 

‘You understand exactly what he’s saying. The problem is: Nobody told him there’s no such thing as Santa Claus.’

In a interview earlier this month, Mamdani did say he had ‘changed his mind’ about private sector construction.   

While the results were not yet final, Mamdani had such a commanding defeat over Cuomo that the former governor conceded defeat overnight.   

Cuomo, a 67-year-old political veteran vying to come back from a sexual harassment scandal, told supporters: ‘Tonight was not our night. I called him, I congratulated him.’ 

Mamdani had taken 43 percent of the vote with 95 percent of ballots counted, according to city officials. Cuomo was at around 36 percent and appeared to have no chance to catch his rival.

However, the contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference.

When no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote outright, election officials start the time consuming process of eliminating the lowest-ranking candidates and retabulating.

The confirmed winner will face several contenders in November, including current Mayor Eric Adams, who is a Democrat but has vowed to run again as an independent. 

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