GOP lawmaker calls NYC socialist mayoral winner ‘gift to Republican Party’

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.V., said Sunday that Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who won New York City’s mayoral primary, is a “gift to the Republican Party,” because other candidates would have to distance themselves from him during the upcoming election cycle.

“He‘s talking about government-run grocery stores, free transportation, jacking up tax prices. If you live in West Palm Beach, Florida, your property value is about to skyrocket, likely,” Moore said during CNN’s “State of the Union,” in reference to Mamdani. “To me, this is a gift to the Republican Party because this guy is going to be a lightning rod that they’re going to have to distance themselves from, in the upcoming election cycle.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Moore if there was something for Republican candidates to worry about with regard to Mamdani’s victory. Mamdami defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary last week.

“Now, what I think happened here is what you saw with Clinton, Obama-flashback to that primary, is that the establishment was just trying to roll over and get what they want and push a unpopular person, such as Cuomo, back into politics, and they just rejected it. They keep running this same kind of playbook, and I think that’s what it has more to do with,” Moore continued.

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.V., speaks at a post-meeting press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 14, 2025.  (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

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CNN commentator Ashley Allison said Democrats needed to help Mamdani govern, but acknowledged that he’d made problematic statements.

“I think that there was an effective and aggressive no-to-Cuomo campaign, which opened for whoever was in that primary to find their lane. And Mamdani was the one who found his lane and is now the Democratic nominee. Democrats, when people win our primaries, support them, help him govern. Don‘t turn your back on them,” she said.

“We are the big tent party, at least we used to be. So there‘s enough space for all of us. Don‘t let him become mayor and then just turn your back on him, help him govern. I am disappointed that more Democrats haven‘t. There are some things that he says that I find problematic, but Donald Trump is our president and a lot of people support him, and he said a lot of things that are problematic too, so we can find our way around things and hold people accountable while still supporting them to be good mayors,” Allison continued. 

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Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, arrives for a news conference at Astoria Park during the New York City mayoral Democratic primary in the Queens borough of New York, US, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.  (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Mamdani, whose campaign galvanized supporters on the ground and on social media, has proposed what conservatives deem radical ideas, like government-run grocery stores, free bus service, tuition-free city universities, rent freezes and free childcare, among others. 

The socialist candidate was endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Mamdani criticized capitalism during a recent interview on CNN.

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“No, I have many critiques of capitalism,” he said in response to host Erin Burnett’s question about whether he liked it.

“And I think, ultimately, the definition for me of why I call myself a democratic socialist is the words of Dr. [Martin Luther] King decades ago. He said, ‘call it democracy, call it democratic socialism.’ There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country,” he said. “And that’s what I’m focused on is dignity and taking on income inequality. And for too long, politicians have pretended that we’re spectators to that crisis of affordability. We’re actually actors, and we have the choice to exacerbate it, like Mayor [Eric] Adams has done, or to respond to it and resolve it like I’m planning to do.”