Democrat political strategist James Carville says a lot of crazy things and often seems to be playing with a few cards missing from his deck, but he’s not stupid. Although he wrongly predicted a Kamala Harris win in the ’24 presidential election, he has also been one of the few Dems willing to call out the party’s descent into extremism and how that’s not a winning strategy.
Although political novice Zohran Mamdani can celebrate for the time being after defeating disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democrat primary for New York City mayor Tuesday night, many observers contend that his surprise ascension is a problem for the party—a big problem. Why? Because he is so extreme that Republicans will quite fairly point out whenever possible that this is what the modern Democrats have become—antisemitic socialists who believe that traditional American values are garbage.
RedState’s Katie Jerkovich reported on how the Ragin’ Cajun is one of those voices:
The Dem strategist noted how Mamdani "has not walked back" calls for "global infitada" [sic]...
Hunt replied, "However, I do believe that Republicans will jump on this," and Carville agreed.
"I can't imagine that any Democratic candidate anywhere in the country is going to be able to escape answering this question. I think the microphone's going to follow him around. I think that they're going to pound this home as hard as they possibly can," Carville said.
"Depending on who comes in a general election, there's a lot of Democrats that are going to have a hard go at this. I think it's a potentially damaging event," he added.
Related: Carville Sounds Alarm About ‘Gift To Republicans’ Of Socialist Mayoral Primary Victory
Trump Tees Off on '100% Communist Lunatic' NYC Mayoral Hopeful Zohran Mamdani
But Carville is far from the only non-Republican sounding the alarm about this guy. Here’s former Democrat New York Mayor Eric Adams, who switched to independent in April, saying Mamdani would be a disaster for the Big Apple:
LISTEN‼️⬇️@ericadamsfornyc joined Fox & Friends to discuss the false promises Zohran Mamdani has been running on.
— Bienvenido (@bienvenido_us) June 25, 2025
Mamdani has no idea how things work. Eric Adams points this out:
“He wants to raise taxes on the 1% of New York’s high income earners… as the Mayor you don’t… pic.twitter.com/K5O4ULJbqC
“He wants to raise taxes on the 1% of New York’s high income earners… as the Mayor you don’t have the authority to do that”
NYC Voters pay very close attention to the lies being spread by Zohran Mamdani.
But wait—there’s more. Two NY Dem Reps also voiced their concerns:
Reps. Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi, two New Yorkers who are veterans of battleground congressional races, put out statements criticizing Mamdani after his victory — Gillen called him “too extreme” and Suozzi said that his “concerns remain” about Mamdani.
And more:
Other House Democrats from New York who hadn't backed Mamdani were mostly tight-lipped Wednesday.
- Reps. Pat Ryan, Josh Riley and Ritchie Torres — who went so far as to say he wouldn't run for governor if Mamdani won — all dodged reporters.
- Rep. Dan Goldman, asked if he had any thoughts on the result, told Axios: "Not right now."
- Major Democratic donors — who poured tens of millions into a Super PAC for Cuomo — were having private discussions Wednesday about whether to back an independent run by Cuomo in November's general election, or rally behind unpopular incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who's also running as an independent.
While a Mamdani win in the general election in New York could be an existential disaster for the Big Apple, he might actually be a gift to Republicans in the meantime. As Carville pointed out, the GOP can keep pounding on his extremism month after month and remind voters that this is the new face of the Democrat party—the socialist face. This is the kind of guy that today’s progressives endorse, and more moderate folks should be reminded day in and day out that Marxism is what they’re voting for when they back the left in this day and age.
I pray and hope that this socialist zealot gets crushed in November by Eric Adams or someone else—I spent part of my growing-up era in the Big Apple and spent several years there as a young man before I fled—and I fear for what he would do to what, despite its myriad challenges, is still one of the greatest cities on earth.
In the meantime, Republicans should (quite fairly) milk this for every ounce they can.
In closing, several years ago, I never would have dreamed I'd be writing this next sentence: Go Eric Adams!
