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The torch of American progressive history is being passed to a new generation: Corey Robin on Mamdani’s victory

admin — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 22:15:00 +0000

Zohran Mamdani’s election this week as New York City’s Mayor is a story that has travelled far beyond the city’s five boroughs. Noted political theorist Corey Robin — Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center — unpacks what Mamdani’s victory means for the Democratic Party establishment, U.S. politics in the Trump era, and progressive movements beyond America.

What is the most striking aspect of Mamdani’s victory?

The most significant aspect is that it has been built for over a decade, going back to the early 2010s, with the rise of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which had been a moribund organisation, but got a new lease of life after Occupy [Wall Street] and the [2008] financial crisis. There has been a tremendous amount of grassroots organising, and Mamdani comes out of that group — a small group that by poll day, had over 1,00,000 volunteers canvassing door-to-door for him. So, it is a real triumph of a kind of democratic action that we have not seen in this country for a long time.

You called Mamdani’s victory a continuation of the Nevada moment, referring to the time Bernie Sanders won in 2020 in the Democratic primaries there. Could you elaborate?

People have forgotten the Nevada moment, because it was obscured by what immediately followed — the nomination and election of Joe Biden, and then COVID shutting everything down. What you saw in Nevada was a coalition of much younger voters, working-class, who rallied behind this old white, Jewish socialist guy who was originally from New York City. That connection forged there showed that democratic socialism could speak beyond the boundaries of identity, the boundaries of native-born versus immigrant, and lastly, beyond generations. We saw an extremely similar phenomenon here, with younger South Asian voters, who make up a large part of the population. We saw them rally behind Mamdani. That cross-generational, cross-class, cross-immigrant, and cross-cultural alliance is something that the left has really been working on for about 10 years, and it is amazing to see how it moves from city to city and gets larger every time.

Although the party denied candidacy to Sanders twice, he didn’t let it become a setback. The move continued its work, didn’t it?

Absolutely! Bernie Sanders has been in this fight for the long haul. He started as the Mayor of Burlington. Even before that, he was an activist. Far from being focused on himself or his campaigns, he has always clearly understood his role — to be seeding something for the future. We saw it in Nevada, in the election of AOC, and now with Mamdani. Sanders comes out of the 1960s. He was born in Brooklyn, the son of working-class immigrants. With Mamdani now, you see the torch of American progressive history being passed to a new generation. It is hard not to get emotional and excited about the fact that this new generation is made up of immigrants.

With the rise of the DSA, the mobilisations around Sanders, AOC and Mamdani, there seems to be ample logic for the party to move away from centrism and make a considered shift to the left. Then, why isn’t the party willing or able to do that?

It has to do with two reasons. One is for the last 30 to 40 years, the party has been run by a group of elite people who see their first task to be to satisfy donors. The other is coming out of the 1970s, and the rise of right-wing populism; there was a certain section of the party that felt the way to win polls was to tack to the centre — that liberalism and progressivism on the left were liabilities. So, you ended up with a politics that was extraordinarily centrist.

But many on the left contend that embracing centrism is inevitable in the fight against fascism or authoritarianism.

I was never persuaded by that argument, but we gave it a try with Hillary Clinton, who lost, and then we gave it a try with Joe Biden. Even though what enabled Joe Biden to win that election was that he, in fact, did tack to the left, it was the centrist votes and voices within the party that pulled it back. Far from keeping Trump out of power, [we see that] he gets stronger. Mamdani put this very well on election night. He said, “We are not just fighting Donald Trump. We are fighting the next Donald Trump.” And that is really important. What he has made very clear is that the fight against authoritarianism and the fight for affordability are two sides of the same coin.

To deliver on promises, Mamdani will have to confront structural challenges, institutional limits, while contending with a party whose establishment is at best lukewarm about his victory. How can the movement behind him sustain the momentum?

The only way to confront a party establishment that is lukewarm, the only way to confront the infrastructure, the institutional intransigence, and the opposition of money and power, is precisely for people to stay mobilised.

Published – November 10, 2025 03:45 am IST

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Trump backs Cuomo, threatens to cut funds for New York City if Mamdani wins

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 01:05:00 +0000

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One on his way back to the White House from a weekend trip at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (November 3, 2025) he will restrict federal funds for New York City if Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the city’s mayoral elections on Tuesday (November 4), and urged supporters to vote for former Governor Andrew Cuomo. If Mr. Mamdani wins the election, Mr. Trump said on Truth Social it was “highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required.”

Polls show Mr. Mamdani to be leading against Mr. Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing to Mr. Mamdani in the Democratic primary, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

Mr. Trump said a vote for Mr. Sliwa would only help Mr. Mamdani and urged his supporters to back Mr. Cuomo.

“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job,” Trump wrote. Republicans have attacked Mamdani’s candidacy throughout the campaign, with Mr. Mr. Trump casting the self-described democratic socialist as a communist.

Mr. Mamdani, a Uganda-born state assembly member, shocked political observers on June 24 with a convincing victory in the primary.

Mr. Mamdani’s policies include hiking taxes on New York City’s wealthiest, raising the corporation tax rate, freezing stabilized apartment rental rates and increasing publicly subsidized housing. His rise presents both risks and rewards for the national Democratic Party, which acknowledges the need to appeal to young voters but is wary of Republican attacks over Mr. Mamdani’s criticism of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and his Democratic socialism, which has worried New York’s finance community. Mr. Trump has used the threats of federal funding cuts throughout his second term in office over climate initiatives, transgender policies, pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Published – November 04, 2025 06:35 am IST

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NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he won’t quit race as only he can beat Zohran Mamdani

admin — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 05:37:00 +0000

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday (September 5, 2025) said he won’t succumb to pressure to end his reelection campaign and insisted he is the only candidate strong enough to beat the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani.

Mr. Adams declared his intention to stay in the race at the end of a fraught week that began with a trip to Florida, where Mr. Trump administration intermediaries sought to assess his willingness to quit the race to take a job with the federal government.

Earlier Friday, Mr. Adams appeared to leave the door open to a departure, releasing a statement saying he “will always listen if called to serve our country” but adding he had not yet received any “formal offers”.

Hours later, he summoned reporters to the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, to slam that door back shut.

Democratic mayoral nominee and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images via AFP

“I am in this race. And I am the only one who can beat Mamdani,” Adams said.

“How many times have I been told throughout this journey to step aside, to surrender, to give up, to give in,” he said.

“That’s the same thing we tell everyday New Yorkers. Everyday New Yorkers are not giving up, are not giving in, are not surrendering, so their mayor is not going to do that.”

Mr. Adams dismissed Mr. Mamdani and former governor Andrew Cuomo, both fellow Democrats, as “two spoiled brats” who are “not like us”, then walked off as a throng of reporters shouted questions.

Trump’s preference

Mr. Trump has told reporters he would prefer not to have Mr. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, as New York’s next mayor, but believed it was inevitable unless two of the three other major candidates in the race dropped out. Besides Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa is also on the ballot.

Moments after Mr. Adams’ announcement, Mr. Trump was asked about it by reporters at the White House.

“He’s free to do what he wants,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Adams, but he added that Adams staying in the contest might help cement a Mamdani victory.

“Cuomo might have a chance of winning if it was one-on-one. If you have more than one candidate running against (Mamdani), it can’t be won,” Mr. Trump said.

During a trip to Florida this week, Mr. Adams met with Steve Witkoff, a former real estate developer in New York who is now one of Mr. Trump’s main diplomatic envoys in Washington, said Mr. Adams’ campaign spokesperson, Todd Shapiro.

It was unclear what specifically was discussed.

Mr. Adams skipped the Democratic primary, saying he was sidelined from campaigning after he was indicted last year on bribery charges.

Mr. Trump’s Justice Department then dropped the criminal case, saying it was distracting Mr. Adams from helping with the president’s immigration crackdown.

In an interview, former Democratic New York governor David Paterson said he spoke with the mayor Wednesday morning. Mr. Adams told him he wanted to remain in the race but had received offers, Mr. Paterson said.

“He said, Listen, they say I have some offers. I have a lot of offers. Then he started laughing. And he was saying that, you know, he really doesn’t want to leave and he’s trying to work that out so he doesn’t have to,” Mr. Paterson, who has endorsed Adams for reelection, said.

“He didn’t get specific about it, but I got that in his heart of hearts, he really wants to stay. But I also got that, even though he didn’t say it, that the odds can’t be very good.”

Mr. Mamdani won the Democratic nomination after soundly defeating Mr. Cuomo in the primary. He could be a heavy favourite in the general election if Cuomo and Mr. Adams split the centrist vote and most Republicans vote for Sliwa.

“Through the collusion and corruption of the past few months, our relentless focus on the affordability crisis — created by Andrew Cuomo and inflamed by Eric Adams — has not wavered,” Mr. Mamdani said in a statement Friday.

“November, we’re going to deliver a city working New Yorkers can afford and turn the page on the broken, billionaire-backed politics of the past.”

Published – September 06, 2025 11:07 am IST

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