New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani again sought to distance himself from some of the most sweeping positions associated with Democratic Socialists of America leaders.
In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News Sunday, Mamdani brushed aside speculation that the left-wing organization could expel him while arguing that abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement has broader public support than many critics suggest.
Asked about DSA positions he rejects, including the group’s call to abolish the Senate, Mamdani said, “Why would we abolish the Senate?”
“What we’re seeing is that Americans across this country are facing a cost-of-living crisis,” he said. “Americans are tired of waiting. They are tired of being told that their needs are unrealistic by the very politicians who have been bought by the wealthiest people in the country.”
“I’m proud to be doing so as a mayor who’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America,” Mamdani added.
The DSA platform supports abolishing the Senate, a proposal some legal scholars contend could not be accomplished even through a constitutional amendment.
During a rapid-fire exchange with Fox News anchor Shannon Bream, Mamdani rejected the idea that he wants to eliminate national borders, the Supreme Court or jails.
Asked whether he believed the DSA would remove him from its ranks, Mamdani smiled and answered, “No.”
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“When you go into a room and there are more than one socialist in the room, you will often find disagreement in that room,” he said.
He argued that DSA members are united by “a belief in the dignity of working-class people” and the conviction that such dignity should shape their everyday lives.
Mamdani has moderated several positions he held earlier in his political career, including questioning the purpose of prisons and supporting efforts to defund the New York Police Department in 2020.
In recent weeks, members of the mayor’s far-left base have criticized him for declining to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, among other campaign promises.
During the interview, Bream also pointed to campaign pledges that remain unfulfilled, including a $30-an-hour minimum wage, free bus service and a promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s difficult, but that doesn’t mean you shirk away from it,” Mamdani said, while highlighting steps his administration has taken to expand access to child care.
“A promise is something that you should meet,” he said later. “Some promises, you do day one, some of them day 365, some of them year three. You keep going.”
