The White House doubled down Monday on President Trump’s contention that Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani is a communist who would be difficult to work with if elected New York mayor.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr. Trump tries to work with everyone, but Mr. Mamdani would be a difficult partner in governing.
“The president is always willing to work with everyone,” she said. “He wants to do what’s right for America, but surely, someone who holds these values and is quite literally a communist and condemns every value that makes this country great, common sense, law and order, low taxes, working hard and earning your keep in this country, he’s against all of that.”
She added, “I think the president would find it difficult to work with someone like that. If he is elected, I’m sure you’ll hear more from the president on that.”
Mr. Mamdani, 33, a self-described democratic socialist, recently won the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
He has dismissed Mr. Trump’s labelling him a communist.
“I’ve 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,” Mr. Mamdani said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He said the president wants to distract people from “what I’m fighting for.”
“I’m fighting for the very working people he ran a campaign to empower that he has since then betrayed,” Mr. Mamdani said.
Rep. Andy Ogles, Tennessee Republican, sent a letter last week to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking her to look into whether Mr. Mamdani should be deported because of “willful misrepresentation or concealment of material support for terrorism.”
“Zohran ‘little muhammad’ Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings,” he said in the letter, which he posted on social media.
When asked about Mr. Ogles’ comments, Ms. Leavitt said Mr. Trump had not called for Mr. Mamdani to be deported, but he does not want him elected.
However, she said, if Mr. Ogles’s claims about Mr. Mamdani are true, “It’s something that should be investigated.”
Mr. Mamdani’s win last week in the city’s Democratic primary, beating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also sent shock waves through the Democratic establishment.
Mr. Mamdani is running on a promise of free buses, rent-stabilized housing, a $30 minimum wage, and the launch of city-owned grocery stores.
He also wants to raise taxes on New Yorkers who make more than $1 million a year — a proposal that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has thrown cold water on.
On “Meet the Press,” Mr. Mamdani said he intends to keep his campaign promises if given the chance to be the city’s next mayor, while also vowing to keep New York as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.
“It’s a policy that had previously been defended by Democrats and Republicans alike, until the fear-mongering of this current mayor,” he said. “It’s a policy that we’ve seen ensures that New Yorkers can get out of the shadows and into the full life of the city that they belong to, and it’s one that I will be proud to stand up for.”
His campaign offers a way forward for national Democrats, Mr. Mamdani said.
“Ultimately, what we’re showing is that by putting working people first, by returning to the roots of the Democratic Party, we actually have a path out of this moment where we’re facing authoritarianism in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin contributed to this report.
