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Reacting to US President Donald Trump’s threat to arrest and deport him, New York City mayoral nominee for the Democrats, Zohran Mamdani, said, “His statements don't just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you.”
Mamdani, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, has taken a strong stance against the Trump administration’s anti-immigration raids across the country. He has pledged to stop New York City resources from being used for immigration enforcement and promised to invest 165 million USD for immigration legal support.
On July 2, posed a provocative question by a reporter who asked, “What is your message to communist Zohran Mamdani?”, Trump responded, “We will have to arrest him. We don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I am going to be watching over him very closely on behalf of the nation.” Trump also cast aspersions on Mamdani’s citizenship without any evidence, claiming, “A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. We’re going to look at everything.”
The US President made these remarks while visiting a detention centre in Florida.
Following Trump’s comments, Mamdani said in a statement, “The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorise our city. We will not accept this intimidation.”
Mamdani recently drew international attention after defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, a result widely described as a political upset that took many by surprise. Clinching 56% of the votes required, Mamdani is now set to contest the mayoral elections in November.
The 33-year-old mayoral nominee has been running on a platform of promising rent freezes in New York, free bus rides, free child care, increased funding for public schools, establishing city-owned and price-controlled grocery stores, protecting LGBTQIA+ rights, and increased corporate taxes apart from defending immigrant rights.
Mamdani has previously described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who fights for what he believes in.”
In June, Trump deployed the US Marines and the National Guard in Los Angeles in an attempt to quell protests against his anti-immigration raids. The move was criticised by California Governor Gavin Newsom and by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
The Eric Adams row
In his statement, Mamdani also responded to Trump’s support for current New York City mayor Eric Adams, who is facing a high-profile corruption scandal and was indicted in 2024.
Adams, a Democrat, has so far been cooperating with the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdowns and has now launched a re-election campaign as an independent candidate. Earlier in February, the Department of Justice ordered federal prosecutors in Manhattan to seek a dismissal of Adams’ indictment. The charges against him were dropped in April.
The move was seen as a quid pro quo and raised widespread alarm bells.
Defending Adams, Trump said in his July 2 press meet, “Mayor Adams is a very good person. I helped him out a little bit. He had a problem, and he was unfairly hurt over this question.” Again, without evidence, Trump claimed that the Adams’ indictment was “phoney” and a retaliation for his anti-immigration stance.
Reacting to this, Mamdani said, “That Trump included praise for Eric Adams in his authoritarian threats is unsurprising but highlights the urgency of bringing an end to this Mayor's time in City Hall. At the very moment when MAGA Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off of healthcare and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this President's division, distraction and hate.”
Notably, Adams has denied Trump’s hand in the dropping of charges against him.