Just days after his inauguration as mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani entered the fray of national politics by condemning the Trump administration over the illegal U.S. attack on Venezuela, the kidnapping of that nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his jailing in Brooklyn as he awaits trial on trumped-up indictments by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Mamdani was clear in describing the moves as “illegal and unconstitutional acts of war.” He said he told President Trump, in a phone call, that he considered the removal of Maduro as regime change, which was never something the U.S. should engage in.
“I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City,” Mamdani wrote Saturday afternoon on X.
“Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law. This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad; it directly impacts New Yorkers,” he said.
The tens of thousands that turned out in New York for Mamdani’s inauguration only a few days earlier included thousands of activists in labor and allied organizations that canvassed the city to get him elected. Like his election, the implementation of his progressive agenda will happen to the extent that the mass movements that won the election are able to continue actively fighting the billionaire class that opposes that agenda.
Many media pundits, however, discount the importance of the movements of labor and its allies in both Mamdani’s election and in the carrying out of his progressive agenda. They pose the period ahead as simply one of whether the new mayor, on his own, will “keep his promises.”
Mamdani made it clear that his “promises” are in fact a platform whose implementation will depend upon the activity of the mass movements he intends to help lead, rather than just feats he will pull off as an individual.
“You will be needed now more than ever. Our work has just begun,” he told the crowds at City Hall. The thousands of trade unionists and their many allies who had been among the 90,000 who went door to door in New York, campaigning for Mamdani, cheered. They nodded their agreement that they want to be part of an ongoing and expanding coalition in New York that aims to carry out the agenda on which he campaigned.
Mamdani was first sworn in earlier in the day by another staunch opponent of Trump’s anti-working-class policies, New York State Attorney General Tisch James, in a private ceremony in a decommissioned subway station in New York. Later in the day, the big public ceremony featuring his swearing in by Ind. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took place at City Hall.
“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but we will never be accused of lacking the courage to try,” he said.
“I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical,” he declared.
Before administering the oath, Sanders told the crowd that most of the things Mamdani wants to do- including raising taxes on the rich, “aren’t radical at all.”
“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” he said. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today.
CONTRIBUTOR
