Zohran Mamdani will be the first socialist democratic mayor for New York City since 1993. After his election, President Donald Trump stated that New York City had “installed a communist.” This is not the only time that Trump has used the term “communist” to try and deter support from Mamdani. During a press conference, Trump referred to Mamdani as a communist and said that he would turn the city into “a communistic city” if Mamdani did get elected. Additionally, after Mamdani won the primary, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic.” These communist allegations are even seen in news media, such as the New York Post, with graphics depicting Mamdani holding the hammer and sickle, common symbols of communism.
Accusations of Mamdani being a communist are reminiscent of McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the period of the late American 1940s and early 1950s when Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin began a series of investigations and hearings as a way of weeding out alleged communist infiltrations during the Cold War. These investigations targeted people of higher status, such as politicians and celebrities, but spread into the everyday lives of Americans. Citizens felt more suspicious of their neighbors, fearing the looming threat of communists taking over through the slow process of getting rid of honest Americans. This fear spread into the modern day as communism has become a buzzword to invoke fear in audiences because of past connotations. Now, Trump and other right-wing politicians use the word to steer voters away from more left-leaning politicians by exploiting that fear of what they aren’t used to.
Mamdani isn’t a communist, he is a democratic socialist. Communism and socialism are not the same thing. Economic analyst Kimberly Amadeo writes, “Communism is an economic system where the group owns the factors of production.” Communism aims to replace privately owned properties that focus on profit accumulation with public ownership and communal control of properties that are managed by the state. Socialism has some similarities, but it highlights that products made under socialism are social products since everyone in the community contributed. Democratic socialism is different from both of these. There is no one definition for democratic socialism, but the Democratic Socialist Association describes that democratic socialism aims to create a democracy that allows for more input from all that live under the democracy. Mamdani’s policies reflect this with his plans to increase taxation on wealthier residents and provide more financial aid to those struggling with the cost of living crisis. He plans to do this by decreasing bus fares and making housing more affordable.
Calling Mamdani a communist is an attempt to appeal to that modern-day fear of communism. In 2020, only 38% of Americans believed they knew at least a little about communism. Most of what Americans learn about communism comes through an American lens in American history and civics classes. Those classes fail to actually define and examine communism and socialism, instead explaining through a McCarthyist perspective or deciding to overlook them entirely. This impacts their political beliefs in their adult lives. In a Gallup poll, 54% of Americans said they felt positively about capitalism compared to 39% saying they felt positively about socialism. A survey done by the Victims of Communism showed that only 14% of Americans see communism as a favorable system of economics. Now these people are voting and making decisions based on information they aren’t given.
The way communism is used in modern high society also reflects the impacts it had on 1950s Hollywood and politics. Mainly right-leaning politicians use the accusation of communism to make voters avoid people who go against their beliefs by fearmongering.
This reflects the history between communism and Hollywood stars, namely the creation of the Hollywood blacklist. The Hollywood blacklist was a practice that emerged around the same time as McCarthyism that barred stars suspected of communism or ties to communist Russia from working in the entertainment industry. It also started investigations from the House Un-American Activities Committees (HUAC), which led to more paranoia and suspicion.
A similar event happened during the New York mayoral election. Publications such as The Stanford Review, USA Today and Fox News have released pieces relating to how New York is doomed now that they have elected Mamdani. These pieces are meant to either steer people away from electing Mamdani in the future or regret their vote and choose not to put him into office in the next election. No matter the point, the pieces are meant to limit his chance of reelection.
In a time when politics has become more and more scary to the average citizen, politicians try to capitalize and make our fears worse. The best way to make the American political atmosphere a little less overwhelming is by doing research. Make sure to know the terms being mentioned about candidates before making assumptions. Learn their policies past the blanket statements media outlets make. Figuring out the best candidate based on your own beliefs can make politics feel so much easier than when you rely purely on politicians and the media you see.
