Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani takes the stage at his primary election party on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a top ally of President Donald Trump who is seriously considering a run for Empire State governor next year, also pounced. Stefanik claimed that "a radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging Antisemite will most likely win the New York City Democrat Mayoral primary."
Even Vice President JD Vance got into the game, writing, "Congratulations to the new leader of the Democratic Party" in a post on Blue Sky, a social media platform frequented by progressives.
Veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News that "the Democratic Party's trying to convince people that the tail is not wagging the dog, and they don't answer to the more extreme elements of their party. Now, that entire effort is undercut by a socialist winning handily in a bellwether election to determine who's going to run America's largest city."
WHAT MAMDANI IS PLEDGING TO DO IF HE BECOMES NEW YORK CITY'S NEXT MAYOR
"It's a messaging nightmare that's going to unfold in real time from now until the midterms," Reed said.
Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman and democratic socialist mayoral candidate for New York City, topped former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to win the June 24, 2025 Democratic Party primary. (REUTERS/Bing Guan)
"Zohran Mamdani's likely victory shows that a new direction for the Democratic Party is possible – a future of dynamic candidates who appeal to young voters and working-class voters with a platform that fights for people, not corporations," Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Pointing to endorsements of Cuomo earlier this month by former President Bill Clinton and former three-term New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she charged that "the old guard establishment of the Democratic Party, fueled by billionaires, did everything they could to defeat Mamdani – and they failed. They continue being wrong about everything, and they need to get out of the way and let a new generation lead."
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However, ahead of the primary, the moderate Democrat-aligned group Third Way said in a memo they were "deeply alarmed" over the prospect of a Mamdani victory.
"A Mamdani win for such a high-profile office would be a devastating blow in the fight to defeat Trumpism," the group argued.
Fox News' Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-use-mamdani-bombshell-victory-over-cuomo-ammunition-blast-democrats