Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday praised Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in New York City’s mayoral race, calling him the “future” of the Democratic Party in the US.
Taking to X, Musk reshared a clip of New York Governor Kathy Hochul endorsing Mamdani’s candidacy and wrote, “Zohran is the future of the Democratic Party”. Mamdani recently received a big backing by prominent leftists during a vote rally on Sunday.
The Tesla CEO’s big remark for Zohran Mamdani came months after he defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the June primary. Mamdani has been a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump, who once shared a highly publicized rapport with Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO had endorsed Trump in his White House bid and contributed millions to his political campaign.
Apart from Kathy Hochul, Mamdani has so far reportedly received the backing of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, US Representative Jerrold Nadler, who represents Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mamdani is a self-proclaimed socialist who also happens to be the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and professor Mahmood Mamdani, which leads many critics to call him a “nepo baby”.
The 34-year-old is largely perceived as a progressive Muslim, and is poised to become the first Muslim mayor of America’s most populous city, New York. His poll campaign largely focuses on the cost of living issue in the city, and he has proposed freezing rents for NYC’s two million rent-stabilized tenants and adding 200,000 new homes over the next decade. Besides, he has also promised not to let Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operate in New York City.
He has often been criticsed by Donald Trump, who once labelled the NYC mayoral contender a “100% Communist Lunatic”. “He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him,” Trump had said back in June.
At the recent vote rally, New York city comptroller and Mamdani ally Brad Lander said “it’s not Donald Trump versus Zohran Mamdani, it’s Donald Trump versus New Yorkers.”
