By Nicole Silverio. Media: Dailycaller
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday quickly disassembled Democrat New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s socialist platform as he currently is lagging in the polls.
Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent, said on The Free Press’ “Conversations with Coleman” that democratic socialism is ineffective and full of false promises, such as Mamdani’s proposal to give out “free” buses and groceries. The incumbent mayor came out against Mamdani as he is currently trailing behind Mamdani and former Democrat New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Seventy percent of New York is not able to identify the word ‘socialism.’ And many people don’t really understand the term ‘socialism’ and what it means,” Adams told podcaster Coleman Hughes. “I’ve been to Cuba, I’ve been to Venezuela, I’ve been to countries where socialism exists. I saw the empty shelves in the rationed books in Cuba and what it means. So, we’re romanticizing the terminology and it always sounds good that ‘I’m a socialist.’ But when you dig into what it means, you understand. When you get stuff for free, someone is paying for it, and so that delivery worker who’s given us 12 hours on that bike or Moped to deliver food, people who are getting things for free, that delivery worker is paying taxes.”
“So all these things when you’re really frustrated, you have a tendency to believe that what he is selling, he could deliver it, but he can’t.” Adams continued.
Mayoral race polling found that Mamdani led with 41% of support, followed by Cuomo with 26% and Adams with 16%, according to Gotham Polling & Analytics, which surveyed New Yorkers between June 30 and July 2. Another poll by American Pulse from Thursday showed that Adams is trailing Mamdani and Cuomo among likely voters with 13.8%, while Mamdani leads with 35.2% and Cuomo with 29%.
The mayor’s approval ratings have trailed the other two high-profile candidates, including in March when they fell to 20%, according to a Quinnipiac poll.
Adams further faced five federal charges relating to allegations that he “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official for nearly a decade. A federal judge dropped the indictment “with prejudice” in April, arguing that the court had no authority to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute a case.
Mamdani is running on a platform that is promising to implement government-run programs, such as free buses and grocery stores. Adams said his promise is unfeasible, given that a mayor does not have the power to raise income taxes and that so-called free grocery stores would dismantle private food markets in the city.
“[Mamdani] is an assemblyman. He didn’t [raise taxes]. So why does he believe he’s going to do it now when the governor said that is not going to happen … When you think about the theory, this is an intellectual elitist that is actually doing some form of experiment and I’m saying that we need real experience to get this done,” Adams said.
Adams ditched the Democrat Party on the ballot in April to run as an independent, stating that there is a “right way and a wrong way” to run New York City rather than a “liberal or conservative way.” He came under fire by the Democrat Party for criticizing former President Joe Biden’s handling of the illegal immigration crisis and his willingness to work along President Donald Trump’s administration to carry out mass deportations.
While New York City faced a massive surge of illegal immigration, Adams warned in September 2023 that the massive influx would “destroy” New York City and pleaded with the Biden administration to offer federal assistance to deal with the crisis.
Mamdani has further called for imposing rent freezes, raising the minimum wage to $30 and has doubled down on his promise to increase taxes on “richer and whiter” neighborhoods throughout the city. He came under fire by Jewish organizations and advocates for refusing to disavow the phrase, “globalize the intifada,” which many interpret as a call for “indiscriminate violence against Israel and potentially against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide,” according to the ADL.
The Democrat mayoral nominee received endorsements from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democrat New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are both notably self-described democratic socialists.
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