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The fact-checking website PolitiFact defended Democratic New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani from President Donald Trump‘s claims he was a “communist” last week, saying the rejoinder was false.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, effectively clinched the Democratic nomination for the 2025 mayoral race in New York last week in an upset over establishment favorite Andrew Cuomo and other candidates. Trump lashed out at Mamdani on Truth Social, calling him a “100% Communist Lunatic,” adding, “We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous.”
PolitiFact, after quoting other conservative and Republican figures also labeling the far-left candidate a communist, decried what it called a “red scare tactic that has existed in U.S. politics for decades” in a post on Thursday.
“New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s platform proposes free buses and day care, rent control and city-owned grocery stores to make city living more affordable,” PolitiFact wrote. “Mamdani’s platform is not akin to communism, a system of government which calls for government takeover of private property and control of industry.”
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Zohran Mamdani clinched the Democratic nomination in the New York City mayoral race last week. (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It went on to quote several experts who said Mamdani’s appeal lay in his efforts to combat affordability problems in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the country.
“Mamdani is NOT a communist,” wrote Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University professor of international studies, in an email to PolitiFact. “Communism involves a centrally planned economy, with no market forces. Prices and quantities are set by a central government authority. There is no democratic political competition, and instead a single party rules the country. He is not calling for any of this.”
“Many western democracies — from France to Canada — have policies such as free or heavily subsidized child care and public transit,” Oxana Shevel, a Tufts University associate professor of comparative politics,” told PolitiFact.
“Under a communist agenda, the government would own everything and entirely control prices, not only rent control or operating some supermarkets. And under communism, there are no political parties other than the communist party,” the fact-check argued.
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President Donald Trump was hit by PolitiFact for calling Zohran Mamdani a ” communist.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
It concluded the claim by Trump was “false.”
Notably, it fell short of being declared “Pants on Fire,” the notorious designation the fact-checking website has for political and media claims it deems so outlandish that calling it “False” doesn’t adequately condemn it.
Examples of Trump’s remarks that earned the designation including suggesting Ukraine had “started” the war with Russia and claiming Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia had “MS-13” tattooed on his knuckles.
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Trump has been fact-checked by PolitiFact more than 1,000 times. His declarations have been deemed “False” or “Pants on Fire” 57% of the time.
The White House and Mamdani’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
