(NewsNation) — Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro characterized Tuesday’s New York City mayoral election as a “revenge candidacy,” warning that progressive winner Zohran Mamdani’s policies could prove dangerous for the nation’s largest city.
“The best hope for Mamdani is that the city council stopped him from doing the things that he wants to do, because if you were actually able to implement many of his plans, it would make him more unpopular,” Shapiro said during an appearance on “CUOMO” following election night.
Shapiro expressed particular concern over Mamdani’s idea that “there is no problem too big for government and no problem too small for government to care about,” calling it “terrifying to anybody who has any familiarity with totalitarian systems.”
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The conservative commentator noted that Jewish voters remain divided on Mamdani despite his controversial positions on Israel and the Middle East.
Orthodox and conservative Jewish communities voted overwhelmingly against Mamdani, while unaffiliated Jews who attend synagogue infrequently supported the progressive candidate, Shapiro said.
Exit polls showed nearly half of Mamdani’s voters cited his position on Israel as a major factor in their decision, an unusual dynamic for a New York City mayoral race despite the city’s significant Jewish population.
Shapiro also criticized Mamdani’s refusal to answer whether Hamas should disarm during a national television appearance, noting the position is held by the U.S., Egyptian, Saudi, UAE, Bahraini and Qatari governments.
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He traced Mamdani’s involvement with Middle East issues to his college membership in Students for Justice in Palestine.
“Every Jew that I know in the city of New York feels significantly less safe today under a Mamdani administration,” Shapiro said, citing elevated rates of crimes against Jewish residents in recent years.
When asked about antisemitism on both political extremes, Shapiro distinguished between commentators and elected officials, noting that Mamdani now holds significant political power as mayor while controversial right-wing figures remain outside government.
“You’re talking about commentators. You’re not talking about elected officials,” Shapiro said, adding that Mamdani’s Middle East positions were “a feature, not a bug” of his campaign.
