Fact check: Is Zohran Mamdani a communist?

Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old who soared to the lead successful the New York City mayoral Democratic primary, describes himself arsenic a antiauthoritarian socialist. But immoderate politicians and societal media posts falsely labelled him a communist.

President Donald Trump called Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic”, successful a June 25 Truth Social post.

Nick Sortor, a blimpish podcast host, wrote June 23 connected X, “Zohran Mamdani is not adjacent a socialist. He’s a afloat connected COMMUNIST,” sharing a video clip of Mamdani calling for a web of city-owned market stores. “Even FURTHER near than Bernie Sanders. He wants government-run market stores.”

Ben Shapiro, cofounder of blimpish website The Daily Wire, said connected his podcast, “The large quality of the day: A communist is apt to beryllium the adjacent politician of New York City.”

Representative Elise Stefanik besides wrote connected X that Mamdani is simply a “communist”.

Mamdani’s platform calls for making transportation, lodging and groceries much affordable, but experts accidental helium hasn’t espoused cardinal tenets of communism, specified arsenic authorities takeover of manufacture and backstage property.

“Mamdani is NOT a communist,” wrote Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University prof of planetary studies, successful an email to PolitiFact. “Communism involves a centrally planned economy, with nary marketplace forces. Prices and quantities are acceptable by a cardinal authorities authority. There is nary antiauthoritarian governmental competition, and alternatively a azygous enactment rules the country. He is not calling for immoderate of this.”

Accusing Democrats of being communists or communist sympathisers is simply a predominant misleading onslaught enactment by immoderate Republicans. It is simply a reddish scare maneuver that has existed successful US authorities for decades, but has been transformed by the occurrence of immoderate antiauthoritarian socialists, including US Senator Bernie Sanders.

Mamdani made nationalist headlines June 24 aft erstwhile New York Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the primary. When the metropolis completes the ranked prime voting process, Mamdani is expected to win. Mamdani’s bureau did not respond to our requests for comment.

In November, Mamdani volition face Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, the laminitis of civilian crime-fighting radical Guardian Angels, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is moving arsenic an independent. Cuomo near unfastened the doorway to moving arsenic an independent.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Mamdani’s level calls for immoderate city-owned market stores, different affordability policies

Mamdani, who represents portion of the Queens borough successful the New York State Assembly, identifies arsenic a democratic socialist.

The New York City Democratic Socialists of America endorsed Mamdani, who is simply a member.

The radical defines its extremity arsenic “to collectively ain the cardinal economical drivers that predominate our lives, specified arsenic vigor accumulation and transportation”, and to person “a strategy wherever mean radical person a existent dependable successful our workplaces, neighbourhoods, and society”.

Mamdani’s level includes freezing rent for tenants successful buildings with preexisting caps connected terms increases betwixt lease terms. He besides projected creating city-owned market stores, and said successful a June interrogation with Spectrum News NY1 that helium would commencement with 1 market store successful each borough modelled connected municipality-owned stores successful Kansas.

He besides projected escaped buses and kid care, and raising the firm taxation complaint and the minimum wage.

Mamdani does not telephone for getting escaped of backstage ownership. One of the goals included connected his website is to “make it faster, easier, and cheaper to commencement and tally a business”.

He told The New York Times that helium changed his caput astir the relation of the backstage marketplace successful lodging construction, saying, “I intelligibly recognise present that determination is simply a precise important relation to beryllium played.” The communicative links to Mamdani’s website, which calls for the nationalist assemblage to physique affordable lodging but not instrumentality implicit each housing.

What are the differences betwixt communism and antiauthoritarian socialism?

We sent highlights from Mamdani’s level to 7 experts crossed world disciplines including governmental science, instrumentality and anthropology. None concluded that Mamdani is simply a communist.

“The thought that Mamdani is simply a communist is an absurd slander,” said Geoffrey Kurtz, subordinate prof of governmental subject astatine the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York.

When US politicians usage the word antiauthoritarian socialism, they are referring to generous societal security programmes often disposable successful European countries, specified arsenic heavy subsidised kid care, on with precocious taxation rates, if needed, to wage for acquisition and healthcare.

Mamdani doesn’t question to bash distant with backstage spot oregon advocator a authorities takeover of immoderate industry, said Ted Henken, a Baruch College professor. Instead, Mamdani proposes targeted interventions to tackle precocious surviving costs successful New York City, Henken said.

“The New Yorkers who enactment him look to bash truthful not due to the fact that of immoderate communist ideology connected his oregon their part, but due to the fact that helium proposes to code this situation of affordability,” Henken said.

“For example, his city-run market store thought does not suggest to instrumentality implicit oregon bash distant with the backstage market chains (they already person metropolis subsidies) but to complement them with nonprofit city-run stores,” Henken said.

Although Mamdani said successful a run TikTok video that helium would “redirect funds from firm supermarkets to city-owned market stores”, helium did not accidental helium would get escaped of firm markets. Mamdani besides said city-owned markets would enactment with privately owned tiny businesses and farms.

Political mentation experts said galore of Mamdani’s proposals person existed successful different democracies for decades.

“Many occidental democracies – from France to Canada – person policies specified arsenic escaped oregon heavy subsidised kid attraction and nationalist transit,” said Oxana Shevel, a Tufts University subordinate prof of comparative politics.

Under a communist agenda, the authorities would ain everything and wholly power prices, not lone rent power oregon operating immoderate supermarkets. And nether communism, determination are nary governmental parties different than the communist party.

“This is not what he’s advocating,” Shevel said. “So no, he’s not a ‘communist’.”

Democratic socialism emerged arsenic an alternate to communism, said Harvey Klehr, an Emory University adept connected the past of American communism.

“At slightest successful theory, they cull specified communist concepts arsenic the vanguard of the proletariat and the communist hostility to typical democracy, arsenic good arsenic the communist content successful authorities ownership of the means of production,” Klehr said. “That said, determination are a fig of issues connected which they agree, including hostility to capitalism.”

Experts said determination are tenable critiques of Mamdani’s proposals, but that doesn’t marque his proposals communist.

Our ruling

Trump said Mamdani is simply a communist.

Mamdani’s mayoral level proposes making New York City much affordable, including via escaped buses and time care, rent power and city-owned market stores. That is not akin to communism, a strategy successful which the authorities controls the means of accumulation and takes implicit backstage businesses. Mamdani has not called for the elimination of backstage ownership.

He besides hasn’t called for eliminating ideology and governmental parties, different tenet of communism.

We complaint this connection False.

Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check