Zohran Mamdani now stands on the threshold of election to the mayoralty of New York City. John Podhoretz assesses his victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in six numbered propositions. John calls his assessment “The threat of Zohran Mamdani.” Here are paragraphs 3-5 of John’s six propositions:
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3. Next to Minnesota’s Keith Ellison, who has run and won statewide twice for attorney general, Mamdani got more votes last night in the NYC primary than any Muslim candidate has ever received in the United States. And while he ran on affordability and did not make his anti-Israel obsession (he opened a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin) a centerpiece of his campaign, he didn’t hide it even though he was running in the most Jewish city in America. Why? Because it was a feature and not a bug. Because it was a significant reason, if not the most significant reason, for his grass roots support.
4. To put it simply: Mamdani won because of October 7, by which I mean, he is the encampment candidate. He is the “Free Palestine” candidate. He is the “globalize the intifada” candidate. He emerged from the pack because this was his secret sauce. He is a foreign-born Muslim who rose from the ranks of the anti-Israel movement of the 2010s that laid the groundwork for the explosion of anti-Semitism in America over the past 20 months. He’s smart and articulate and able and impressive. He is also an implicit celebrator of anti-Jewish violence and anti-Semitic evil. He said he would have Bibi Netanyahu arrested if Bibi came to New York City. He did not moderate his views or his positions as he ran for office here. That’s because they were good for him financially and electorally.
5. So a Muslim supporter of jihad is likely to be the next mayor of a city that was once 31 percent Jewish (in 1950) and is now 12 percent Jewish. In 2024, Jews in America breathed a sigh of relief after ferocious activism knocked off two Squad members in Democratic primaries in Congress—Jamaal Bowman in New York and Cori Bush in Missouri—because of their loathsome conduct after October 7. Now, in the most important election of 2025, the party’s progressive voters are showing they are on the march and they have a new standard bearer.
Whole thing here.
