Zohran Mamdani emerges as GOP’s government shutdown boogeyman
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As the government shutdown drags on for more than a month, a left-wing figure has emerged as the most cited political bogeyman in House Republicans, and he is not one of the top two Democrats in Congress.
Instead, New York State assemblyman and self-proclaimed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is running for mayor more than 200 miles away in New York City.
“You’ve seen their party gravitate towards the socialist left, and that’s [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] He defeated Joe Crowley. “And ever since then Democrats have been afraid of this kind of nascent wing of their party,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital when asked why GOP leaders appealed to Mamdani so often.
“They are the center of the Democratic Party today. They run the Democratic Party and you can see it, Mamdani is the one they all fear and listen to.”
HARRIS APPROVES MAMDANI WITH RESERVATIONS, QUICKLY TURNS TO OTHER ‘STAR’ DEMOCRATS
Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani attends the second New York mayoral debate with independent candidate and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa at the LaGuardia Community College LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in Long Island City, Queens, New York, October 22, 2025. (Hiroko Masuike/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries noted his support for DY and his recent support for Mamdani.
“The way they run their entire party operations has changed because they are now afraid of the left base of the party that Mamdani heads,” Scalise said.
House GOP leaders or speakers at their daily closed-door press conferences brought up Mamdani both directly and indirectly at each of their press conferences last week.
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Speaker Mike Johnson after a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on October 28, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
At Thursday’s news conference, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the media of criticizing the New York City socialite’s frequent comments.
“Surprisingly, the media is criticizing Republicans for focusing on Mamdani. I read some of this yesterday. This socialist uprising is something we have a responsibility to shout about and sound the alarms. That’s what the people’s elected representatives should do,” Johnson said. he said.
“And we take that responsibility seriously. And of course Mamdani is a big problem here in the halls of Congress. Why? Because Leader Jeffries, the nation’s second-highest-ranking Democrat, supported her.”
Republicans have also recently started calling her “communist Mamdani”; that nickname comes from House Majority Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. It was used by House GOP leaders at a closed-door press conference where they invited Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation to speak.
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa participate in the second New York City mayoral debate held at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens, New York City on October 22, 2025. (Hiroko Masuike/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
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Mamdani criticized Johnson at one point earlier this month for focusing on him.
“Speaker Johnson should seat members of Congress instead of using his time to attack our campaign,” Mamdani said from Manhattan on Monday.
“But if I were one of the leaders of the Republican Party leading a campaign promising Americans a lower cost of living and cheaper food, and the only thing I could offer them was a government shutdown, then I, too, would try to distract as much as I could from that lack of results.”
