Zohran Mamdani says billioniaires shouldn't exist 'in a moment of such inequality'

Fresh off his victory in the Democratic mayoral primary, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani made a national television appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday where he condemned New York City’s income gap.

“I don’t think we should have billionaires because frankly it is so much money in a moment of so much inequality,” he said during the appearance. “And ultimately what we need more of is equality across our city.”

Mamdani’s winning campaign centered around making the city more affordable, and pitched free buses, free childcare, city-owned grocery stores and a $30 minimum wage to help working families.

During the appearance, he pointed to his proposal to pay for those programs by hiking taxes by 2% of city residents who make more than $1 million a year — something that’s been criticized as politically infeasible. Critics say the pitch might be headed towards gridlock because Gov. Kathy Hochul has vowed not to increase taxes.

Mamdani said he would still meet with the city’s ultra wealthy, saying “I look forward to work with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that’s fairer for all of them.”

His criticism of billionaires came three days after he noted he had “many critiques of capitalism” during an appearance on CNN.

President Donald Trump on a Sunday appearance on Fox News called Mamdani “a communist” who would be “very bad for New York” as mayor.

Mamdani said on Meet the Press that he is not a communist, and said Trump criticizes his policies and background because “he wants to distract from what I am fighting for.”

“More than 400,000 New Yorkers are excited about this vision,” he said. “The reason they’re excited about it is because it’s in line with the scale of the crisis in this city.”