When during NBC News’ “Meet the Press”, he asked directly whether billionaires should have a right to exist, he replied, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires 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.”
He added, “And I look forward to working with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fair for all of them.”
In a post on X, Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has backed President Donald Trump in the past, said, “[Mamdani’s] policies would be disastrous for NYC. Socialism has no place in the economic capital of our country. The ability for NYC to offer services for the poor and needy, let alone the average New Yorker, is entirely dependent on NYC being a business-friendly environment and a place where wealthy residents are willing to spend 183 days and assume the associated tax burden.”
“Importantly, there are hundreds of million of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight (believe me, I am in the text strings and the WhatsApp groups) so that a great alternative candidate won’t spend any time raising funds. So, if the right candidate would raise his or her hand tomorrow, the funds will pour in,” he added.
About his plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest people living in the Big Apple, Mamdani said, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, “Ultimately, the reason I want to increase these taxes on the top 1%, the most profitable corporations, is to increase quality of life for everyone, including those who are going to be taxed.”
Read more: Trump threatens New York funding if Mamdani becomes mayor
He maintained, “We’re seeing that our vision to tax the top 1% of New Yorkers — these are New Yorkers who make a million dollars a year or more — and our proposal is to just tax them by 2% additional, is something that has broad support, and we’ll continue to increase that support over the next few months.”
Also President Donald Trump has called Mamdani a communist. “I am not” a communist, Mamdani said on Sunday, in response to a question about Trump’s comments.
Trump made a threat to pull federal funding from New York City if the next mayor doesn’t “do the right thing.”
“But let’s say this: If he does get in, I’m going to be president, and he’s going to have to do the right thing or they’re not getting any money, he’s got to do the right thing,” the president told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
In his response, Mamdani said, “I have already had to start to get used 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, because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for, and I’m fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed.”
