Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson said Thursday on Fox News’ “Hannity” that he believes socialist Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani will test how “far he can go” if elected, based on a 2021 statement the nominee made.
Since winning the nomination, Mamdani has faced callouts from Republicans and some Democrats for past remarks expressing anti-police sentiments and for refusing to denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada.” Discussing the deepening division between left and right, Fox’s Sean Hannity asked Hanson if reconciliation is possible despite the wide ideological differences. (RELATED: Major US City Likely To Be Stuck With Socialist Mayor, Even If Most Voters Reject Him)
“Well, they’re incompatible with the history of the United States, the 249 years, and you have to refute them at the polls. Everybody has to get out in November and do something historic and win for the end party, the Republicans. A huge midterm victory, and that will refute it,” Hanson said. “That’s how McGovernism was refuted. That’s how Carterism was, but this is much more extreme.”
One of Mamdani’s recent controversies stems from his use of the phrase “seizing the means of production,” which is tied to socialist and communist ideology. Philosopher Friedrich Engels, co-founder of Marxism, wrote in “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific” that when society seizes the means of production, “production of commodities is done away with, and, simultaneously, the mastery of the product over the producer.”
During a Young Democratic Socialists of America winter conference in 2021, Mamdani appeared on the livestream as a guest speaker. Attending for an over 40-minute session, Mamdani said that while some issues like Medicare and eliminating student debt have “popular” support in the U.S., others, like “the end goal of seizing the means of production” don’t have the same support “at this very moment.”
“David made a really good point, Sean, that Mamdani didn’t say this as a young person, he said it just four years ago. And he used this term ‘seize the means of production.’ That’s a direct English translation of a German catchphrase by Friedrich Engels,” Hanson said. “If you look at what he said was you got to be very slow and get people acculturated, but just because you’re moving them toward that direction doesn’t mean your ultimate goal is not to seize the means of production.”
“So David made a good point that he’s on the spectrum, and he wants to get to that point. And he’s going to see how far he can go each month when he’s in office. But that’s his ultimate aim, and he used the catchphrase for the last century of Marxism. He didn’t have to use that term, but he wanted to,” Hanson added.
If elected in November, Mamdani said he plans to implement policies like raising the minimum wage to $30, launching government-run grocery stores and taxing “richer and whiter” neighborhoods. While Republicans have raised concerns over the proposals, reports have circulated that some business owners in the city are considering whether to flee if Mamdani takes office.
With pushback on some of his statements, Mamdani sidestepped a reporter in July who asked if he regretted making several anti-police statements in 2020 and repeatedly called for the NYPD to be defunded following the death of George Floyd. Mamdani said the statements were made “amidst a frustration” due to Floyd’s death and that “they need not choose between the two.”
During an interview ahead of New York City’s election day, Mamdani came under fire after appearing on “The Bulwark” and refusing to denounce the phrases “globalize the intifada” and “From the river to the sea” when host Tim Miller asked if they made him uncomfortable. Mamdani later told CBS’ Kristen Welker that while it isn’t the “language” he uses, his beliefs are grounded in “universal human rights.”
Since the backlash, Mamdani has flip-flopped on his more progressive arguments, saying on Sept. 7 that he will now “discourage” the use of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which comes after meeting with Jewish leaders and others in the New York City community, according to Fox News.
Additionally, during his recent interview on ABC’s “The View,” Mamdani said that delivering “justice” can’t be done without “safety,” adding he has been in talks with individual officers to learn “more about the difficulties of” the job.
