Over the last few days, some big secrets have come out about Zohran Mamdani, the polarizing New York City mayoral candidate.
Lines are now being drawn in the sand, as we are starting to see a number of notable Democrats creating as much distance as possible from the socialist hopeful.
The latest to do so is NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who is now warning her constituents to stay away from Mamdani in the upcoming election.
One of the first Democrats to speak up against Mamdani was Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
When he was asked to comment about Mamdani, he stated, “I mean, so, he’s not even a Democrat, honestly.”
He later added, “Everything that I’ve read on him, I don’t really agree with virtually any of it, politically.”
I believe he was the first Democrat to openly reject Mamdani, but he would not be the last.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) was a bit more delicate in his phrasing, but he clearly wanted to create some distance between himself and Mandani.
Smith stated, “Look, the mayor of New York has never, never, ever been the leader of the Democratic Party.”
He then stated, “Mamdani isn’t speaking for our party, any more than I’m speaking for our party. It’s a big tent. It’s a big coalition.”
That statement was reminiscent of what the chair of the DNC recently stated, but not quite as conciliatory toward the New York Democrat.
Vernikov, who is Jewish, wants nothing to do with Mandani, stating, "This is a guy who wants to globalize the intifada."
She continued, "We've never seen anything close to this in New York City. We have the largest Jewish population in America, and I'll tell you Jews are telling me they're going to run away from New York City, and Jews have contributed a lot to the city and to this country, and the idea that they are now afraid to live here it's unacceptable and unprecedented really, this has never happened here."
Mamdani was elected on the strength of the affluent white and Asian vote, but he has been slowly sliding in the polls as more information has become available about him.
Currently, in a head-to-head race, Mamdani is actually trailing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, while the two men are tied in a theoretical three-way race. He can be beaten, but it will take current Mayor Eric Adams and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race for that to happen. If they both stay in, it could split the vote just enough to hand Mamdani the city. The sad reality here is that the fate of New York now rests in the hands of Cuomo.
