‘I don’t think we should have billionaires,’ says Zohran Mamdani, triggers controversy

Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City, said on Sunday that billionaires contribute to inequality and hence he doesn’t believe they should exist. Mamdani, who claims to be a democratic socialist, was asked whether billionaires should have a right to exist during ‘Meet the Press’ show on NBC News, and he said, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country.”
“And I look forward to working with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fair for all of them,” he added.

Mamdani’s remarks come at a time when some wealthy people in New York City were reportedly annoyed after it became clear that he would be the presumptive nominee.

‘His policies would be disastrous for NYC,’ says billionaire

Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has backed President Donald Trump in the past, has pledged to use his money to bankroll a challenger to Mamdani in the general election.

“[Mamdani’s] policies would be disastrous for NYC. Socialism has no place in the economic capital of our country. The ability for NYC to offer services for the poor and needy, let alone the average New Yorker, is entirely dependent on NYC being a business-friendly environment and a place where wealthy residents are willing to spend 183 days and assume the associated tax burden,” Ackman wrote in a post on X.

“Importantly, there are hundreds of millions of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight (believe me, I am in the text strings and the WhatsApp groups) so that a great alternative candidate won’t spend any time raising funds. So, if the right candidate would raise his or her hand tomorrow, the funds will pour in,” he added.

Mamdani shares plan of raising taxes on the wealthiest

Mamdani also shared his plan of raising taxes on the wealthiest people living in the Big Apple, as he told the moderator Kristen Welker, “Ultimately, the reason I want to increase these taxes on the top 1%, the most profitable corporations, is to increase quality of life for everyone, including those who are going to be taxed.”

Mamdani has also faced critics—including President Donald Trump—who call him a communist.

“I am not” a communist, Mamdani said in response to a question about Trump’s comments.

“I have already had to start to get used to, get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for, and I’m fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed,” he added.

Trump threatens to pull federal funding from New York City

In a separate interview on Fox News that was taped Friday, Trump again spoke about Mamdani, issuing a threat to pull federal funding from New York City if the next mayor doesn’t “do the right thing.”

“But let’s say this: If he does get in, I’m going to be president, and he’s going to have to do the right thing or they’re not getting any money, he’s got to do the right thing,” the president told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News.

“It was the focus on the fact that we live in the most expensive city in the United States of America. It’s also the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and yet 1 in 4 New Yorkers are living in poverty, and the rest are seemingly trapped in a state of anxiety,” Mamdani said.