Speaking to reporters on Monday, June 30, about President Trump’s stance toward New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate, the Uganda-born, Muslim, and communist Zohran Mamdani, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that the president will find him exceedingly hard to work with, as it looks like he will “crush” NYC if elected.
As background, President Trump had, shortly before then, both said that he might “arrest” Mamdani and that the NYC communist could be deported. He said, “We’re going to be watching that very carefully and a lot of people saying he’s here illegally, he’s, you know, we’re going to look at everything. But, and ideally, he’s going to turn out to be much less than a communist. But right now he’s a communist. That’s not a socialist.”
So, asking Leavitt about that on Monday, Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocy questioned whether the NYC mayoral candidate could actually lose his citizenship and be deported for his radical political views, something many MAGA Americans want to see happen and at least one lawmaker has called for.
Responding, Leavitt said that while she hasn’t heard President Trump call for Mamdani to lose his citizenship, she knows the president does not want to see him elected. She said, “I haven’t heard him say that. I haven’t heard him call for that. But certainly he does not want this individual to be elected.”
Continuing, she noted that the president still loves New York City and is not happy with the idea that the radical Democrat could “crush” it, saying, “I was just speaking to him about it and [Mamdani’s] radical policies that will completely crush New York City, which is obviously a city that the president holds near and dear to his heart.”
The press secretary then added that, despite that, President Trump will try to work with anyone, saying, “Look, the president is always willing to work with everyone. He’s working with Democrats across the country, Democrat governors. And he said he’ll work with people on the far left. He works with Republicans. He works with people in the middle. He wants to do what’s right for America.”
However, she then added that Mamdani holds no traditionally American views and is an outright communist, which sets him apart from other political figures in America. She said, “But surely someone who holds these values and is quite literally a communist and condemns every value that makes this country great: common sense, law and order, low taxes, working hard, and earning your keep in this country.”
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Further, she added that the president will have a hard time working with such a communist if New York City’s voters choose poorly and elect the outright communist to run their city into the ground. She said, “He’s against all of that. And I think the president would find it difficult to work with someone like that, if he is elected. I’m sure you’ll hear more from the president on that, but we’ll have to see. Hopefully, the voters of New York City choose wisely.”
Watch Leavitt here:
Featured image credit: base image screengrab from the embedded video