"Don't Think We Should Have Billionaires": Zohran Mamdani

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that billionaires shouldn't exist, stepping up his rhetoric in a network television interview against the wealthiest and most powerful New Yorkers.

"I don't think that we should have billionaires," Mamdani said on NBC's Meet the Press. "Because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country."

Mamdani, who's increasingly drawing national attention after a crushing victory in last week's New York primary, stood by his critique of income inequality in the global financial capital. He defended his denunciations of Israeli policy, a traditional campaign topic in the city, including the war in Gaza. He declined to condemn the phrase "globalise the intifada," which is offensive to many Jewish people.

President Donald Trump on Sunday raised the possibility of withholding federal funding for the city if New Yorkers elect Mamdani in November.

"He's going to have to do the right thing, or they're not getting any money," Trump said on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures. He called the 33-year-old state assemblyman a "communist."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat who represents part of Brooklyn, said he doesn't know Mamdani well but that "globalizing the intifada" is "not an acceptable phrase."

"I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development," Jeffries said on ABC's This Week.

Many of Mamdani's positions - which include free buses, rent freezes and higher taxes for the rich and corporations - have unsettled business leaders and mainstream Democrats.

He stood his ground on NBC, saying he wants to "work with everyone, including billionaires" to build a fairer city and pledging to "make clear that there's no room for antisemitism in this city."

He said business leaders have told him that the city's high cost of living is preventing them from attracting and retaining talent, while politicians "have pretended to simply be bystanders to a cost of living crisis."

Mamdani took on Trump, rejecting the communist label - "I call myself a democratic socialist" - and described the president's name-calling an attempt to distract. "I have 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, ultimately," he said.

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