A high-profile Black New York City politician likened Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s allies in the Democratic Socialists of America to white supremacists, as a deepening Democratic Party feud erupted publicly on social media.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards sharply criticized the DSA, accusing the group of overlooking race while pushing to expand its influence and advance its anti-capitalist agenda.
“White supremacy comes in all forms,” Richards wrote in a late-Sunday post on social media.
His blunt response followed an online debate sparked by a New York Times report examining how the Democratic Party’s far-left wing has prioritized the organization’s broader political goals while, critics say, paying too little attention to Black and Latino members and the issues that matter to them across the five boroughs.
The DSA has endorsed candidates of color, including two of its best-known figures — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is Latina, and Mamdani, who was born in Uganda — but the organization’s membership remains overwhelmingly white.
A 2021 survey found that 85% of DSA members were white.
Political insiders have also accused the group of targeting vulnerable districts and dropping in its preferred candidates rather than cultivating contenders from within local communities.
Richards reinforced his criticism by sharing a Malcolm X quote describing white liberals as “dangerous… foxes.”
