For many New York voters, Zohran Mamdani’s win in last night’s Democratic mayoral primary is the best news they’ve gotten all year. Thanks to an army of committed volunteers, a boots-on-the-ground approach to campaigning, and the power of ranked-choice voting, New York Democrats opted to elect a 33-year-old Democratic Socialist to be their nominee for mayor. This is a devastating blow to Establishment Dems, who really wanted to believe that the city would prefer a corrupt sexual harasser over someone promising to make the buses free. It is an even more devastating blow to conservatives, who are losing their minds over Mamdani’s big upset.
As soon as it became clear that Mamdani was going to defeat Andrew Cuomo, the right’s top posters got to doing what they love most: fearmongering. These posts fell into a couple different categories, but all had the same overarching message: According to conservatives, electing a Muslim man with a progressive plan is a portent of crime, destitution, and terrorism. To them, Mamdani New York is a symptom of a sick society.
By Wednesday afternoon, news of Mamdani’s win had finally hit the desk of our country’s No. 1 social-media fiend, Donald Trump. The president shared his thoughts on Mamdani in a pair of Truth Social posts that swung not just at the mayoral candidate but at Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Chuck Schumer. Trump is the only person who has tried to advance the argument that Mamdani “looks terrible,” which is just patently untrue.
Some people expressed their hatred of Mamdani with a specifically Islamophobic bent, invoking 9/11 and warning of an incoming “jihad” should he win in November.
Others opted to declare Mamdani’s victory a win for antisemitism, an accusation that’s been hurled at him throughout his campaign due to his long-standing pro-Palestine stance. Throughout his career, Mamdani has repeatedly explained that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, and that his opposition to Israel’s ongoing war crimes against Palestinians is entirely unrelated to his feelings about Jewish people. “It pains me to be called an antisemite,” he said in a recent speech, adding that “antisemitism is such a real issue in this city, and it has been hard to see it weaponized by candidates who do not seem to have any sincere interest in tackling it.” Throughout his campaign, Mamdani forged a strong relationship with fellow candidate Brad Lander, who is Jewish and has joined Mamdani in advocating for Palestinian rights.
By far the most prevalent flavor of crashing out has been people who don’t live in New York claiming that the city has voted for its own demise.
While a lot of these reactions highlight how much hate the right has for non-white people who dare to imagine a way to make life better for everyone, there are some that are just funny. Take, for example, the folks who now claim that the only way forward for New York is … Eric Adams. At least the current mayor has stopped pretending to be a Democrat and has finally accepted the embrace of Fox News.
But the award for Biggest Tantrum of the Night goes to none other than conspiracy theorist and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who said that a Mamdani-led New York would lead to “another 9/11.”
Congratulations to Mamdani on his hard-fought win. If Stephen Miller and Laura Loomer are trying to cause a panic surrounding your nomination, you’re probably doing something right.
This post has been updated.