“Morning Joe” co-host Willie Geist pressed Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday about how he plans to fund his socialist proposals.
Mamdani has promised to enact a $30 minimum wage, open government-run grocery stores and buses and raise taxes if he is elected mayor. Geist asked Mamdani to explain who will be footing the bill for these types of government-run programs.
“So you’re proposing free grocery stores, free buses, $30 minimum wage, all of which sounds incredible … Excuse me, cheaper groceries. But what people want to know is great. I would love all those things. How do you pay for it? Who’s going to end up footing the bill for those programs?” Geist asked.
Mamdani began by attacking his opponent, independent New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, for receiving endorsements from President Donald Trump and tech CEO Elon Musk. Geist brought the conversation back to affording Mamdani’s promises.
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“So what do you say though on the question of affordability? Let’s just take the $30 minimum wage to the guy who owns the dry cleaner, the woman who owns the nail or hair salon, all these small businesses that you’ve grown up around and see on your block all the time say, I can’t afford to pay people $30. I’m going to have to either lay people off or close my business. How do you explain that?” Geist asked.
“Well, this would be phased in over a longer period of time for small businesses as it’s typically done when you’re increasing the minimum wage. And what we’ve heard in terms of concerns are similar ones we heard when we increased the minimum wage here in New York City before. What it comes back to is the fact that today to live in this city, you have to already be earning $30 an hour pretty much. And so if we don’t want to pay people that we’re going to lose New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “I met a man who was working for $11.99 outside of Elmhurst Hospital. He told me he commutes two hours every single day to give you because he lives in Pennsylvania because he can’t afford to live in New York City.”
In 2021, Mamdani stated in a resurfaced video from a Young Democratic Socialists of America conference that the end goal of socialism is about “seizing the means of production.” He has received the endorsements of fellow self-professed democratic socialist lawmakers Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who have campaigned on his behalf.
Mamdani was leading the race by 14 points ahead of Tuesday’s election, according to RealClearPolitics.
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