Raucous Mamdani Rally Reveals Political Battle Stretches Beyond New York City

Standing at a podium that displayed the words, "Our Time Has Come," Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and allies made clear on Monday night that the sign referred not only to working people across the five boroughs, but to people across the US whose interests have been abandoned by the political establishment in favor of corporations and billionaires.

Speakers at the rally included leaders who have emerged as targets of the Trump administration, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James, and people who have worked in government at the federal level, in the case of former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, and their comments suggested a focus that goes beyond the city and its upcoming election on November 4.

Khan, who spearheaded the Biden administration's efforts to protect Americans from corporate greed in the form of "junk fees" and megamergers, spoke out against "modern-day robber barons," and made clear that both major political parties are to blame for an economy where corporations and the ultrarich "wield extraordinary power."

"They hold enormous control over our paychecks, our bills, our time, and our futures," said Khan, who has sharply criticized the Trump administration for settling with Amazon in a customer deception case and for letting oil executives "off the hook" in a price-fixing scandal.

"But the good news is that nothing about any of this is inevitable," added Khan.

Mamdani has centered his campaign on making the city more affordable by expanding his fare-free public bus pilot program, providing universal no-cost childcare, and establishing a city-run network of grocery stores to compete with for-profit companies—and has reached out to New Yorkers from all walks of life, spending a day walking the length of Manhattan as well as using social media to engage with voters.

With top Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY) refusing to endorse the party's candidate to lead the largest city in the nation, the mayoral race has teed up one of the latest battles between the party's progressive wing and the entrenched establishment—one that will hopefully send a resounding message to the party's leadership, said Khan.

"The days of Democratic leaders choosing to ally with titans of industry over working people are over," she said.

Despite his decisive loss in the Democratic primary in June, disgraced former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is running as an independent and is trailing Mamdani by double digits as he strives to make the state Assembly member's support for Palestinian rights a centerpiece of the campaign.

The tactic, also employed by Cuomo during the primary, has proven unsuccessful so far, with polls showing that support from the city's Jewish voters helped Mamdani win in June by more than 13 points. At the rally on Monday night, the crowd at one point erupted in cheers of, "Free, free Palestine!"

Mamdani turned his attention to Cuomo's enthusiastic participation in the oligarchic political system that's seen the former governor court the wealthy, including billionaire financier Bill Ackman, and tell rich donors in the Hamptons that he expected help from President Donald Trump to win the general election.

In the city and nationwide, Mamdani said, "we are an existential threat to billionaires who think they can buy our democracy."

The mayoral campaign represents “a choice between a mayor for those straining to buy groceries or those straining to buy an election," he said.

The state lawmaker condemned the president's anti-immigrant escalation, which has been on display in recent weeks in cities including Chicago and Portland, Oregon, and his attacks on protesters who hold anti-fascist views as well as left-wing groups that dissent against the president's agenda.

"We are in a period of political darkness,” Mamdani said. “Donald Trump and his [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents are snatching our immigrant neighbors from our city right before our eyes. His authoritarian administration is waging a scorched-earth campaign of retribution against any who dared oppose him.”

"And again and again," he added, "Trump has broken the promise he made to the American people that he would fight for the working class by taking on the cost-of-living crisis."

James joined the rally in her first public appearance since she was indicted by Trump's personal-attorney-turned-federal-prosecutor, US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, last week on allegations of bank fraud. Having successfully prosecuted the president for fraud, James has been a top target of Trump during his second term.

Along with defiantly speaking out against the indictment, which she called the weaponization of "justice for political gain," James said that as mayor, Mamdani would come to the defense of freedoms and institutions that are under attack across the US.

"We are here tonight because we are ready to turn the page on the cynical, broken, politics of the past,” said James. "We are witnessing the fraying of our democracy, the erosion of our system of government... This, my friends, is a defining moment in our history."