With only a few weeks left before New York votes, the tone of the campaign has shifted from competition to desperation. The far right’s predictable fear-mongering has found an unlikely ally in the arrogant Democratic machinery that once served Andrew Cuomo and still protects his political brand. Together, they are deploying a two-pronged strategy to damage Zohran Mamdani’s credibility: demonize him as “too radical,” and simultaneously sabotage him from within the establishment he actually represents better than they do.
The far right’s playbook is familiar. The tabloids scream “communist,” “pro-terror,” “anti-Israel,” and “anti-cop,” recycling Cold-War panic and post-9/11 Islamophobia. They turn every progressive policy proposal into a cultural weapon. A rent freeze becomes “class warfare.” Free public transit becomes “fiscal suicide.” Even empathy is suspect.
The goal isn’t persuasion—it’s fear. Their narrative relies on a white-knuckle nostalgia for a New York that never existed, where privilege masqueraded as stability. In that fantasy city, diversity was decorative, unions were obedient, and billionaires were benevolent.
But the more revealing and dangerous opposition now comes from the Cuomo-Adams wing of the Democratic establishment. The same insiders who spent years defending corruption, patronage, and backroom deals are suddenly worried about Mamdani’s “inexperience.” These are the same Democrats who cheered Cuomo’s strong-man theatrics while he bullied staffers, ignored working-class housing crises, and rewarded developers. The same power brokers who failed to inspire a generation of new voters now whisper that Mamdani can’t “build consensus.”
What they really mean is that he won’t take orders.
Elite Democrats are now openly supporting Cuomo’s late-stage independent candidacy—an act of political sabotage that borders on self-destruction. Their justification? “Electability.” Their real fear? Accountability.
Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primaries wasn’t just a surprise; it was an indictment of a party that has grown tone-deaf to its own base. The message from voters was clear: they want a mayor who speaks for tenants, workers, and the forgotten neighborhoods—not the donor class. Yet the party’s old guard would rather lose to a reactionary than win with a democratic socialist.
This hypocrisy runs deep. The same political consultants who preach “unity against the right” are now spending millions on attack ads echoing right-wing talking points. They denounce “divisiveness” while conspiring with billionaires and media barons to divide the electorate along lines of fear and class. They claim to defend democracy while undermining the outcome of their own primary. In doing so, they reveal their true allegiance—not to party, ideology, or even governance—but to power itself.
The corporate media amplifies this charade. Major outlets—some liberal in name, conservative in structure—frame Mamdani’s campaign as a “test of extremism” rather than a democratic movement. This is what I’ve long called Journalism of Exclusion: when stories that challenge wealth and war are labeled “fringe,” and stories that serve power are treated as “objective.”
The media’s job, in this model, is not to inform the public but to reassure the elite that nothing fundamental will change.
And yet, something is changing. Every attack, every smear, every misquoted headline only clarifies the stakes. Mamdani’s rise represents not just a campaign but a political realignment—a new Second Circle of working people, unions, immigrants, and progressives who see through the theater of fear. They know that the loudest cries of “radicalism” often come from those most terrified of losing privilege.
The desperation of the old order is a sign of its decline. The ruling elite and their media enablers may slow the tide, but they cannot reverse it. When the establishment calls a movement “dangerous,” it usually means it’s finally becoming effective.
If the Democratic Party still claims to stand for democracy, it should stop fighting its own voters and start listening to them.
