Fox News Digital spoke to NYC Council member Inna Vernikov about the popularity of Zohran Mamdani. (Fox News Digital/Getty)
"This is my opinion, is that we're living in a culture of shame that started during the George Floyd riots, when people who were White and who were rich were shamed into being White and rich and now we see who voted for Mamdani," Vernikov said. "It's not the Black community, it's not the Hispanic community, not the brown community, it's really not even the Jewish community, right? It's, really, the White and the privileged who voted for Mamdani and I think they were shamed into voting for him, and it's kind of a small price for them to pay to be accepted socially."
Vernikov explained that another part of the equation is that many young Mamdani voters who have never experienced communism and socialism and "grew up privileged" have been tricked into thinking "this pipe dream could actually be a reality."
MAMDANI SPARKS FIRESTORM WITH RESURFACED COMMENT ON ABOLISHING PRIVATE PROPERTY: 'HE'S A COMMUNIST'
Zohran Mamdani attends the New York City Pride March on June 29, 2025. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
"His ideas, he might say he's a socialist, but I don't really draw the line," Vernikov said. "I think it's the same concepts, the same ideas in terms of the economy, in terms of these policies. I think that it's very, very dangerous and it's counter to the idea of capitalism and the cornerstone of our democracy."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/culture-shame-nyc-council-member-sounds-alarm-mamdani-voters-falling-pipe-dream