New York City's socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has spent much of his brief political career being treated by the national media as some kind of irresistible force, a fresh-faced wunderkind whose progressive appeal stretches far beyond the activist left and into mainstream America.
He's the future, they tell us. [Insert needle scratch noise.]
There's just one not-so-tiny problem with that narrative: Americans don't actually like him very much. A new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll lays it all out in black and white.
As RedState's Nick Arama reported Wednesday, there was some good news in that poll Republicans heading into the midterm elections. The GOP actually leads Democrats 51-49 among likely voters on the generic congressional ballot – a result that has understandably sent some people on the left into a bit of a panic.
Tucked neatly into the poll is another telling – not to mention funny – result that deserves some attention: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more popular with Americans than Mamdani.
Netanyahu, who has been relentlessly demonized by the Mamdani-types of the Democrat Party and portrayed by progressive activists as an evil villain, registered a net favorability rating of minus 10 in the survey. Not great, to be sure, but Mamdani fared even worse, clocking in at minus 14.
That's gotta hurt.
Harvard Poll Finds Netanyahu More Popular Than Mamdani, Vast Majority Says 'Reject' Hasan Piker https://t.co/BgN8bYKAFC
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) September 3, 2026
The poll's finding means that the socialist mayor of America's largest city is currently less popular than a foreign leader whom much of Mamdani's own political coalition routinely accuses of everything from genocide to war crimes.
You'll remember, of course, that Mayor Mamdani promised to arrest Netanyahu if the prime minister dared to step foot in New York City, only to concede that he actually had no legal authority to do so. Nevertheless, he continues to call Netanyahu a "war criminal" and has urged the federal government to arrest him instead.
Which makes it all the more delicious that, at least according to this poll, Americans actually like the guy Mamdani wants hauled off in handcuffs more than they like Mamdani himself.
Interestingly, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fared extremely well in the polling, posting a net +4 favorable rating (43 percent favorable and 39 percent unfavorable). Secretary of State Marco Rubio also finished at +4, but with a lower overall favorable rating of 38 percent.
These numbers are worth keeping an eye on.
But for now, the takeaway for Mamdani is pretty simple: when Benjamin Netanyahu is beating you in a popularity contest with the American public, perhaps you're not actually the future of anything.
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
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