NYT reporter defends NYC mayoral hopeful Mamdani against socialist labels

New York Times reporter Jeffery C. Mays claimed that the closest New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani gets to socialism is his “belief in treating people more equitably” in an article published on Saturday.

Mays argued that Mamdani’s opponents have “derogatively” labeled the mayoral hopeful as both a “socialist” and a “democratic socialist” in an effort to bring down his poll numbers, despite the fact that Mamdani is a member of the national Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and its local NYC chapter.

“The closest Mr. Mamdani gets to socialism is in his belief in treating people more equitably,” the reporter asserted.

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Mamdani’s opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., stated last week that “New York City people are not socialists,” and that New Yorkers wouldn’t resonate with the self-proclaimed democratic socialist’s message.

“Neither, actually, is Mr. Mamdani,” Mays contended. “He is a democratic socialist, which means his beliefs are similar to those of socialists but not exactly the same.”

The Times reporter added that last week the mayoral hopeful said that his platform differs from both the local and national DSA platforms.

Mays went on to break down the differences between socialism and democratic socialism, and claimed that Mamdani’s plans to pay for his proposals, such as providing free busing and childcare in NYC through increasing taxes, are “nothing remotely close to a socialist-like takeover of private companies.”

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Although Mays made the case that Mamdani isn’t a socialist — and that democratic socialism is not the same as socialism — he did note that the NYC DSA describes itself as a branch of the national group, which calls itself the “largest socialist organization” in the country, and that the mayoral nominee is a member of both.

Mays also pointed out that Mamdani received the endorsement of the New York DSA for mayor, and that he was part of the DSA’s eight-member “Socialists in Office” group during his time in the New York State Legislature.

Still, Mamdani’s past remarks have fueled his opponents’ claims. In 2021, Mamdani attended a Young Democratic Socialists of America conference where he urged attendees not to compromise on goals like “seizing the means of production.”

“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,” he said 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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Fox News Digital has reached out to The New York Times and Mamdani for comment.