Mamdani says he thinks a democratic socialist can be elected president

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) believes a democratic socialist could become president of the U.S.

“I think a democratic socialist can get elected anywhere across this country for any position,” Mamdani told host Jon Karl on ABC’s “This Week,” in an interview that aired Sunday, in response to a direct question about the possibility.

Earlier this week, a trio of House candidates endorsed by the democratic socialist mayor won primaries in New York City: Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez. Two of those candidates, Avila Chevalier and Lander, defeated Democratic incumbents, while all three touted their progressive bona-fides on the campaign trail.

Throughout his interview with Karl, Mamdani said the recent electoral results in his city indicate Americans coast to coast want the Democratic Party to focus on the working class instead of solely opposing President Trump.

“I think the direction that the party should go in is how best to fight for working people,” he said. “I think we need to have a platform and a vision that doesn’t sound as if it was cooked up by consultants, but instead one that you would say in response to someone who’s asking, ‘Why can’t I afford my rent, why can’t I afford my groceries, why can’t I afford my childcare?’”

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has more than 100,000 members, according to its website. Ashik Siddique, the co-chair of the DSA, told The Hill on Thursday she wants “people to be talking proactively about what they would want to see in a presidential campaign” for 2028.

Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the longtime leader of the democratic socialist movement, finished second in the Democratic presidential primary in 2016 and 2020.

Trump and Republicans, meanwhile, have slammed democratic socialists as “communists” whose views are not in line with the majority of Americans. They have also specifically labeled Mamdani as the face of the democratic socialist movement.

When Karl asked him about Republicans making him the “poster child” for Democrats, he said “let them” and pointed to his record as mayor — specifically highlighting his administration’s moves to expand access to child care and crime rates dropping under his watch.

“We don’t have to ask ourselves what life looks like if a socialist wins,” Mamdani added. “I won last November, and over the course of these last six months, what we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible.”

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Bernie Sanders

Donald Trump

Jonathan Karl

Zohran Mamdani

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