Bernie Sanders says Dems should ‘absolutely’ run on Mamdani’s tactics nationwide

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked, "After seeing the results of last night's election, you have said that this is not just a New York City thing, which some people have dismissed his win as. Do you think Zohran Mamdani is a leader in the Democratic Party now?”

"Of course he is," Sanders replied, "he’s going to be the mayor of the City of New York. But what’s important about last night is not only that he ran a brilliant campaign—he had 90,000 volunteers, he’s incredibly articulate—It’s what he talked about during the campaign, and he made it clear what is true in every state in this country, is that the richest people in America are becoming phenomenally richer."

"Billionaires are exploding in terms of wealth, while ordinary people, 60 percent of people, live paycheck to paycheck. Ordinary people can’t afford healthcare, they can’t afford childcare, they can’t afford the food in the grocery store, they can’t afford to retire with dignity."

Sanders added, "That’s what Zohran campaigned on. It resonated with people. It will resonate with people in every state in this country."

When asked if he thought this was something that Democrats should campaign on in 2026, Sanders replied, "Absolutely."

Sanders, a Democratic Socialist from Vermont, supported Mamdani on his campaign, appearing alongside Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a late October rally in Queens. Sanders told the crowd at the time, "People all over the world are paying attention to what will happen here on Tuesday. These are not normal times...this election takes place at a time when we have a president who has given a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top one percent."

Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa to become the city’s next mayor. In hs victory speech, Mamdani said that he would bring about a "new age" of "relentless improvement" in the city. "This new age will be defined by a competence and a compassion that have too long been placed at odds with one another, we will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about," he said.