Zohran Mamdani Gets It. So Does Marjorie Taylor Greene.
It’s a message that sounds strikingly similar to one being pushed by a decidedly different politician: Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist who is poised to become New York City’s next mayor.
A lot of coverage of Mamdani’s rise understandably focuses on his style. He’s a charismatic and compelling politician with an invaluable gift in 2025: He can speak contemporaneously and comfortably in seemingly any format, whether it be podcasts about sports, stupid Instagram bits, or longform interviews. But the substance of Mamdani’s candidacy often gets short shrift. He is running a phenomenally disciplined campaign built around the skyrocketing cost of living. He can turn almost anything—the rising cost of halal food trucks or the World Cup—into a story about affordability. It is why he likely will be elected mayor in next month’s general election.
The affordability crisis is easily lost in a manic news cycle dominated by the Trump administration’s growing despotism. ICE raids, a push for regime change in Venezuela, the arrest of critics on (mostly) spurious charges—these are all stories worth covering. But for many Americans, that’s not the most important story in the country. The cost of staples like coffee and beef has skyrocketed in recent months, thanks in large part to Trump’s tariffs. Democrats may have spent the early part of the year railing about the cost of eggs, but they’ve lost the thread in recent months. The ongoing government shutdown, however, is an opportunity to retake it.
