Mamdani Responds to Mike Johnson’s Fearmongering Over ‘Marxist Democrats’ and After El-Sayed Win

“I think it shows you how deeply out of touch the Republican Party is with the concerns of working-class Americans.”


New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani lights the Empire State Building in celebration of America 250 on July 4, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)

Brad Reed
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday hit back at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) over a fearmongering social media post in which the Republican warned of “radical Marxist Democrats” determined “to destroy the very foundations that make us the envy of the entire world.”

During a press conference, the democratic socialist mayor was asked to comment on the post, in which Johnson said the US was in danger of “being overrun by mini-Mamdanis” if Republicans lost control of Congress this fall.

Mamdani responded by speculating that Johnson’s post was in reaction to the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic US Senate primary in Michigan on Tuesday.

Noting that El-Sayed campaigned on a slogan of, “Money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for All,” the mayor questioned why Johnson found such promises so threatening.



“If those simple commitments and beliefs are what drive Rep. Johnson to these kinds of conclusions,” Mamdani said, “I think it shows you how deeply out of touch the Republican Party is with the concerns of working-class Americans.”

The mayor then alluded to the hurdles that El-Sayed had to overcome to win the election, including organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which alone spent $30 million to defeat him.

“Despite him facing more than $60 million in outside spending,” Mamdani said, “he was able to prevail with a focus on the cost-of-living crisis, and the way in which healthcare is exceedingly out of reach for those who have helped make this country what it is.”

The Associated Press declared El-Sayed the winner of the often contentious primary on Wednesday morning, and many establishment Democrats—including his top rival, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.)—rallied behind him as the party’s nominee.