Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, has hit back at President Donald Trump for threatening to deport him.
The president issued the warning at a press conference in Ochopee, Florida, on Tuesday after his visit to the state’s new “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention center. Trump was asked by a reporter about Mamdani’s pledge to stand up to raids on alleged undocumented migrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“Well, then we’ll have to arrest him,” Trump said. “Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over them very carefully on behalf of the nation.
“We send him money. We send him all the things that he needs to run a government… We’re going to be watching that very carefully and a lot of people are saying he is here illegally, you know, we’re going to look at everything and ideally he’s going to turn out to be much less than a communist. But right now he’s a communist. That’s not a socialist.”
Mamdani, who considers himself a democratic socialist, responded with a strongly-worded statement in which he said: “The president of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.
“His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation.
“At the very moment when MAGA Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off of healthcare and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that [incumbent NYC mayor] Eric Adams echoes this president’s division, distraction and hate. Voters will resoundingly reject it in November.”
Mamdani, 33, was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Indian parents but was raised in New York and became a naturalized citizen in 2018. He has served as a New York State Assembly member representing a district of Queens since 2021.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was among those leaping to his defense, posting on X: “I don't care if you're the President of the United States, if you threaten to unlawfully go after one of our neighbors, you're picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers – starting with me.”
Mamdani was only the second public figure Trump threatened with deportation on Tuesday, having already said he would “look into” the citizenship status of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, his erstwhile friend, adviser and campaign donor.
Since his surprise upset win over front-runner Andrew Cuomo in last week’s primary, opponents have raced to attack Mamdani, with Trump calling him “a 100% Communist Lunatic” on Truth Social.
The president then told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday: “If he does get in, I’m going to be president, and he’s going to have to do the right thing or they’re not getting any money, he’s got to do the right thing.”
Mamdani responded to that on NBC’s Meet the Press by saying: “I have already had to start to get used 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.”
Other attacks on the candidate have included Mayor Adams accusing him of being born with a silver spoon in his mouth and Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles posting on X: “Bye bye, little muhammad! If you lied on your N-400 naturalization forms, you’re going home.”
Mamdani and Adams – the latter running as an independent – are likely to find themselves in a three-horse race for City Hall come November alongside Republican Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime group. However, Cuomo has signalled that he could also run again, also as an independent.
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