Mamdani and 'fact checkers' deny he is a Communist, but his own words say otherwise

Zohran Mamdani, the self-described "democratic socialist" and presumptive Democratic Party nominee to be mayor of New York City, has been supported by so-called "fact-checkers" and legacy media in denying that he is a Communist — but his oft-repeated past comments strongly contradict his denials. Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), but he denies that he is a Communist.

An investigation by Just the News shows that in tweets, speeches, and affiliations, Mamdani, at his core, holds a strong affinity for straight-up Communism: praising and campaigning with a Marxist state senator in New York; declaring that NYC needed a mayor just like a famously young Indian mayor who was a member of an explicitly Marxist and Communist Party; praising the bloody 1917 Russian Revolution which led to the establishment of the Soviet Union at the cost of millions of lives; arguing about the need to “seize the means of production” in a reference to a core Marxist principle; praising famous radical Communist figures; and much more.

After the win by Mamdani on Tuesday, President Trump weighed in by declaring Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic.”

“It’s finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor,” Trump said on his Truth Social account. “We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous. He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him. Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”

Mamdani retorted last week in an interview with ABC News that "this is not the first time that President Trump is going to comment on myself, and I encourage him — just like I encourage every New Yorker — to learn about my actual policies to make the city affordable.”

Mamdani works to sanitize his image, gets help from legacy media

He followed up in a Sunday interview on NBC's Meet the Press with an explicit denial that he was a Communist when asked about it by host Kristen Welker.

“No, I am not. And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for. And I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed,” Mamdani said. “And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, ‘Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.’ And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City.”

The self-described fact-checking website PolitiFact declared last week that “Zohran Mamdani is favored to win the NYC mayoral primary. Claims he's a communist are False.” The outlet said that “some politicians and social media posts falsely labeled him a communist” and that “experts say he hasn’t espoused key tenets of communism, such as government takeover of industry and private property.”

PolitiFact also alleged that “accusing Democrats of being communists or communist sympathizers is a frequent misleading attack line by some Republicans” and that “it is a red scare tactic that has existed in U.S. politics for decades, but has been transformed by the success of some democratic socialists.”

The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera re-published the PolitiFact “fact check” too.

The denials notwithstanding, Mamdani's own words may very well reveal what is behind the facade.

Mamdani heaped praise on “Marxist” Julia Salazar and his other “Comrades”

Mamdani has repeatedly praised his fellow “comrades” in the DSA, and seems to have been especially close with New York State Sen. Julia Salazar, who endorsed him and with whom he campaigned during his 2020 run for the New York state assembly, and whom he also praised and thanked for her endorsement when he was running for mayor in 2025.

Salazar is a self-described “Democratic Socialist” who has repeatedly declared that she is an avowed Marxist. Mamdani made it clear in 2020 that he was well aware of Salazar’s Marxist views — and strongly suggested he agreed with them, meaning Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour is not Mamdani's only controversial close associate.

Leftwing activist Daniel Nichanian tweeted in December 2020 that “i've been told that Democratic politicians are all marxists, & now [Kelly] Loeffler is telling me that [Raphael] Warnock would be the country's ‘first Marxist Senator’, and so I'm confused.”

Mamdani quoted that tweet in a retweet and said that “Warnock is admirable in many ways, but ‘first marxist senator’ credit where ‘first marxist senator’ credit is due.” Mamdani was sharing a screenshot of a tweet from his ally Salazar who had tweeted in 2019 that “I’m a marxist, ama about my policy stances.”

When running for mayor, Mamdani tweeted in April of this year that “I am so honored to receive the endorsements of North Brooklyn elected officials at the federal, state and city level” and said “thank you” to “@JuliaCarmel__.”

“So grateful to receive the #1 rank endorsement of Senator Julia Salazar (@JuliaCarmel__), a smart and tough legislator who led the fight for Good Cause Eviction protections and stands up for working people every single day,” Mamdani also tweeted as he lavished Salazar with praise in June.

Mamdani repeatedly tweeted his praise for his “comrade” Salazar over the years, and his tweets show him repeatedly collaborating with her while in the New York state assembly. One such example of many is when Mamdani declared “solidarity w/ my comrade @JuliaCarmel__” in March 2020 when he was first running for New York state assembly.

She tweeted that “I’m a Marxist” in January 2019, and tweeted again in April 2020 that “I have a Marxist worldview.” Salazar tweeted again that “to be clear, as ever, I'm a Marxist” in October 2023.

Salazar also played a role in helping Mamdani win during his 2020 race for New York state assembly. Mamdani repeatedly touted being endorsed by Salazar in his 2020 race, and the two collaborated on issues and virtually campaigned together in the lead up to the election.

“We've seen how much having just 1 socialist legislator in office helped shift politics & policy in New York. Imagine what a whole socialist caucus could do. I'm proud to be endorsed by @JuliaCarmel__ & look forward to serving alongside her & the entire @nycDSA slate in Albany,” Mamdani tweeted in April 2020. 

Mamdani also tweeted that month that “we need a socialist New York to give these workers their power back” and laid out an alleged plan on “how @JuliaCarmel__ & I would do it.” He also tweeted that ”I'm honored to fight alongside” Salazar. Mamdani also tweeted: “We don't need austerity. We need to tax the rich.” He said that he was “running to join @JuliaCarmel__ in Albany to do just that.”

Mamdani shared a quote on Twitter about Salazar which he had given to the far-left Jacobin that month. “You can go in and make trouble and have an incredible impact like Julia Salazar has done in her two years in office,” Mamdani told the outlet. “But if we want to change the nature of politics in New York State wholesale, it will require bringing in a lot more DSA members.”

Mamdani again praised her in June 2020, tweeting, “Few people in government can claim the kind of track record @JuliaCarmel__ can after just one term. She helped lead the fight for the rent laws that helped turn back the tide of landlord & developer control of our politics. I can't wait to work with her to do even more.”

Mamdani continued to praise Salazar after he won his state assembly race.

He tweeted in June 2022 that he had “picked up a copy of Sofia Warren’s Radical from our local bookshop yesterday! cannot wait to read this one - shoutouts @JuliaCarmel__ & @housing4allNY.” The book — Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator — is described by Penguin Randomhouse thusly: “You won the election… now what? Activist organizing meets government gridlock as a millennial New Yorker cartoonist follows a first-year senator on her unforgettable journey — from outsider to insider.”

NYC needs a Marxist mayor?

Mamdani has also repeatedly praised famous Communist figures and leaders. A tweet by him from December 2020 was especially striking, as it suggested that he believed NYC needed a Communist mayor — a job he would pursue himself just a few years later while denying that he is a Marxist.

“them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right now? me:” Mamdani tweeted as he shared a Twitter thread from the Indian Puducherry State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) — or the CPI(M).

“Comrade Arya Rajendran, age 21, new Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She will be the youngest mayor of a major city in the world. Here she leads a detachment of Red Volunteers in @CPIMKerala. #CPIM  #LeftAlternative #Communist,” the Indian Communist Party tweeted. The profile for that branch of the Communist Party included a hammer and sickle emoji in its Twitter description.

Tagged in the tweet threat was the “Official Twitter Handle of CPI(M) Kerala State Committee.” The thread Mamdani was re-tweeting contained two other tweets.

“21-year-old comrade Arya Rajendran elected as the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation today. Congratulations comrade. #CPIM #Communist #LeftAlternative #Women #womeninleadership,” the Twitter thread also said.

Tear down statues of Columbus, calling them "symbols of hate"

When Mamdani tweeted in June 2020 that NYC should pull down a statue of Christopher Columbus, among the three options he suggested for statues to replace Columbus was a famous Italian Communist.

“In 2017, NYC ordered a review of public works constituting "symbols of hate" for potential removal. But a statue of Columbus remains in Astoria, in defiance of the values of humanity, empathy & justice that we stand for. It has to go. Sign the petition,” Mamdani tweeted. He then ran a Twitter poll, asking, “The Italian-American community has a rich history in Astoria. Who should we honor instead? Tony Bennett (Astoria native, music icon) Walter Audisio (Communist partisan, killed Mussolini) Sacco & Vanzetti (Executed due to anti-Italian sentiment).”

Tony Bennett is of course a famed singer. Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for murder in 1927, in a case that stirred up protests proclaiming their innocence.

The obituary by The New York Times for Walter Audisio described him as “the Communist partisan who claimed credit for the execution of Italy's World War II Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini.”

Mamdani also repeatedly tweeted his praise for the radical far-left Black Panther leader and noted Marxist, Fred Hampton.

Mamdani quoted Hampton in an August 2020 tweet: "You can jail revolutionaries, but you can't jail the revolution." Mamdani’s tweet continued: “- Fred Hampton (August 30th, 1948 - December 4th, 1969) Rest in power.” Mamdani then tweeted in December 2020 that “Fred Hampton believed in Black liberation, socialist revolution, and solidarity with the poor, the workers, and the colonized around the world. So must we. Rest in power.”

Hampton was a member of the Black Panther Party and was a Marxist-Leninist. In one speech in 1969, Hampton said, “We not only thought about the Marxist-Leninist theory—we put it into practice. This is what the Black Panther Party is about.” Hampton would eventually die in a shootout with FBI agents.

Mamdani also shared a humorous tweet about Communism which still hinted at his affinity for it.

“Most people: DSA’s rebirth happened in 2016 bc [because] of Bernie’s first run and the beginning of the Trump era,” Mamdani tweeted in September 2022. “Real ones: It was in 2009 when Lil’ Wayne said ‘I’m down like the economy’ while wearing a shirt that says COMMUNIST in the Down music video.”

Praise for the Russian Revolution

Mamdani has repeatedly posted approvingly about the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the fall of Czar Nicholas II, which ushered in Communist rule in Russia and the establishment of the brutal Communist-led Soviet Union.

Mamdani tweeted in March 2023 — and then again with the exact same language in March 2024 — praise for the 1917 February Revolution in Russia, which led to the abdication and murder of the Romanov family and the Bolshevik takeover.

“On March 8, 1917, women textile workers in Russia organized a massive strike, calling for ‘bread and peace,’ an end to war and the fall of the Czar. A week later, he abdicated. Women received the right to vote. The 1st #InternationalWomensDay in Russia was a revolution,” Mamdani tweeted in both 2023 and 2024.

An analysis by History.com made it clear that this February Revolution — named such because the Russians used the Julian calendar — led almost directly to Vladimir Lenin’s dictatorship in Russia.

The Victims of Communism Foundation, authorized by an Act of Congress and “devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million people killed by communism” across the globe, similarly showed that the February Revolution’s ousting of Czar Nicholas meant a swift Soviet takeover.

“Following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917, Russia formed the liberal Provisional Government, which was transitional and weak,” the foundation wrote. “Lenin was not a man to waste an opportunity, and he and his Bolsheviks seized control of a capital in chaos, incited civil war, and forged the first communist nation along Marxist principles.”

Desires a proletariat seizing "the means of production"

Mamdani spoke of “the end goal of seizing the means of production” in 2021 while he was a New York state assemblyman.

Karl Marx’s book Das Kapital repeatedly uses the term “means of production,” which has become a central pillar of Marxist theory. “Capital is dead labor, that vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks,” is just one example of the phrase appearing in Marx’s work.

“In the Manifesto of the Communist Party of 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels presented their vision of an international workers’ revolution, in which all social distinctions would be swept away by the inevitable forces of history. Property, family, religion, and country and nation would fall before the righteous onslaught of the working class as it seized control of society and government,” the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation assessed. “The mechanism by which the proletariat would seize the means of production and enforce its collective will—the Communist Party—was assumed to be preordained. The ideology was certain; the particulars were vague.”

Mamdani declared his affinity for seizing the means of production during a Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) winter conference in February 2021. The full context of the quote shows that Mamdani was attempting to stress how serious he was about that affinity.

“I wanted to make sure to say is that when we — when our position starts to change, when we start to accumulate power, when we start to elect individuals such as myself and my slate mates into local office, we are started to be treated in a different way than we used to be,” Mamdani said. “And the way in which power engages us now is very critical for all of us to remember what it is that we are fighting for, and to remember that our agenda is an agenda that must not be dictated by calculus, but by conviction.”

Mamdani continued: “[T]here are other issues which we firmly believe in, whether it is BDS [Boycott, Divest, and Sanction], right, or whether it is the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment. And what I want to say is that it is critical in the way that we organize, the way that we set up our work and our priorities, that we do not leave any one issue for the other, that we do not meet a moment and only look at what people are ready for, but that we are doing both of these things in tandem.”

Momdani seemed to have previewed this sentiment in a December 2020 tweet. The Democratic Party had tweeted that “the Biden-Harris administration is committed to rebuilding an economy that welcomes everyone as full participants.” That didn't go far enough for Mamdani, who responded by saying that “if we want everyone to be full participants in the economy, we need worker ownership of the means of production.”

“Congratulations, Comrade!”

Mamdani hasn’t just used the “Comrade” moniker for his Marxist ally Julia Salazar, but it is rather a term of endearment he repeatedly uses with his fellow DSA members and allies.

The term “comrade” has a long — but not exclusive — association with Communist movements. Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin was referred to as “Comrade Stalin” and Chinese Communist Party dictator Mao Zedong called himself “Comrade Mao” — among many such examples. When Mamdani spoke at the YDSA winter conference in February 2021, he referred to the other elected socialist officials as his “comrades.”

Mamdani loves to call his fellow leftwing and socialist candidates his “comrades” on Twitter. As one example, he tweeted his congratulations to Lee J. Carter in November 2019 when the Virginia socialist won reelection in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“Congratulations to my comrade @carterforva on his reelection!” Mamdani tweeted. “He won his seat in 2017 without the Democratic establishment & kept it after 2 years of red-baiting attacks, not once wavering in his commitment to socialist politics. From NY to VA, we're building a better world.”

Carter’s Twitter profile currently describes him as a “Queer communist.  Former politician, current union thug.  Probably not a man but definitely not a woman.  A secret third thing.”

Mamdani similarly pushed for “comrade” Samelys Lopez, another New York socialist, in her race for Congress, though she ultimately lost the primary.

Mamdani tweeted in February 2020 that “I’m not surprised that @AOC’s new PAC endorsed my comrade @SamelysLopez. I’ve seen her at just about every labor action in the city for months, doing the work of building power & solidarity for a socialist future. Let’s help her get get [sic] to Congress.” He tweeted in June 2020 that “I’ve been honored to fight alongside my comrade @SamelysLopez right here in NY.”

Mamdani even said at a DSA event in November 2024, in the early days of his mayoral campaign, that the “free buses” idea in his platform came from “my comrade” and fellow DSA member.

Suddenly not a Communist anymore

Mamdani is now trying to flee from his pro-Communist sentiments as he runs for mayor.

By Mamdani’s own admission, his philosophy of running on a platform of providing free things in exchange for votes dates back to at least his time at the elite Bronx High School of Science.

“I made a rap song to run for vice president — ultimately an unsuccessful one. … I promised things that were simply … I promised fresh juice for everyone everyday using locally-sourced fruits. There was a supermarket like four minutes away,” Mamdani said on the AirGo podcast in May 2017. “I promised credits for going to after school games instead of having to go to gym. … For just going to the games I said that would serve as credits.”

Mamdani admitted, though, that his rival “whooped my ass in that election.” It remains to be seen if his socialist platform — which he insists is not a Communist one — will help him win this time around.