With just over two weeks until New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is sworn into office, the nation is watching as the Big Apple prepares for its latest experiment in socialism. Mamdani is a textbook Democratic Socialist: born into privilege, never having held a real job outside politics, and armed with sweeping ideological promises he has no realistic plan to pay for.

But as Inauguration Day approaches, Mamdani’s most radical supporters are beginning to worry—not that he’s too extreme, but that he might not be extreme enough.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) proudly claim Mamdani as one of their own. The organization mobilized roughly 99,000 activists to knock doors, phone-bank, and turn out voters on his behalf. Their influence remains visible: 26 members of New York City’s DSA chapter sit on Mamdani’s transition team.

So why the growing anxiety?

Since winning in November, Mamdani has made several moves that have infuriated the hard left. He announced that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch will remain in her role—a shocking decision for activists who openly advocate abolishing police and prisons. He endorsed New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a non-DSA Democrat, in his primary challenge against Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10). And perhaps worst of all in the eyes of his base, Mamdani held what appeared to be a cordial Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump.

Trump later said the two agreed on issues like crime and affordability—comments that sent progressive activists into a quiet panic.

While the DSA remains publicly supportive, signs of internal fracture are emerging. Stu Smith of City Journal, a close observer of DSA politics, described the situation bluntly:

“He isn’t even sworn in yet, and parts of his own base are already seething, from the Trump meeting to keeping Tisch. On the far left, there’s a growing bloc of disaffected activists who see politicians like Mamdani as not nearly radical enough simply because they operate inside electoral politics.”

Mamdani hasn’t helped calm their fears. Earlier in his career, he openly supported dismantling the police and repeatedly claimed he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes if he ever visited New York. Recently, however, Mamdani has softened his rhetoric, pledging to “work with” the NYPD and vowing to combat antisemitism.

That pivot hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Weeks before the election, members of the DSA’s so-called “Liberation Caucus”—apparently the faction that believes the rest of the DSA isn’t radical enough—released a rambling denunciation questioning Mamdani’s commitment to criminal justice reform and anti-Zionism. One DSA education chair even branded him “ZIOhran.” A pro-Mamdani video followed the next day, but the damage was done.

Smith predicts Mamdani may follow the path of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson:

“An aggressively unpopular mayor kept afloat by a loud band of die-hard loyalists and the ‘Commie Corridor.’ And whatever happens to Mamdani personally, his playbook is not going away.”

That prediction may already be materializing. Seattle elected outspoken Democratic Socialist Katie Wilson as mayor in November. New York and Seattle are deep blue—but how long before this ideology spreads inland?

Despite the hand-wringing, Mamdani’s base may be worrying unnecessarily. Asked recently how he plans to fund free bus rides—a centerpiece of his campaign—Mamdani brushed off the question entirely:

“The most important fact is that we fund it, not the question of how we do it, but that we do it.”

Classic socialism.

So rest easy, Democratic Socialists. Zohran Mamdani doesn’t appear to be going soft anytime soon. For the rest of America, this should be very interesting to watch.