Washington Examiner’s Joe Concha said former President Barack Obama and Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, are “more alike” than people think at first glance, after reports that the two had a phone conversation in June.
Obama called Mamdani to congratulate him on his primary win and offer “advice about governing and discussed the importance of giving people hope in a dark time,” according to the New York Times.
Concha said that both believe big government is the solution, not the problem.
“[Obama and Mamdani] both believe in giving away a lot of free stuff like Oprah [Winfrey] … without having any means to pay for it or at least an explanation on how you would do that,” he said on Fox News.
Concha said Obama and Mamdani are “empty suit Play-Doh figures.”
“Mamdani can be molded into any type of candidate to conform to poll-tested groups in an effort to maximize votes,” Concha said.
Mamdani has a 19% lead over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa trailing further behind, according to a Siena poll released on Tuesday.
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Adams and Cuomo are running as independent candidates against Mamdani.
“Unless [Cuomo or Adams] drop out … this is your next mayor of New York City,” Concha said. “[Mamdani] will drive every single business out of New York City if they could leave.”