Jo Mason | Red Phoenix correspondent | Illinois–

On June 24, 2025, Zohran Mamdani defeated the AIPAC-funded Democratic juggernaut Andrew Cuomo in the primary election for the New York mayoral race, which will be held in November. For many on the left this was seen as a huge win due to Zohran’s progressive tendencies and policies, which not only captured the attention of the nation, but got thousands up and knocking on doors, answering calls and building coalitions from the ground up. However, this is only the beginning of a much larger class struggle that Mamdani and his campaign have helped to renew in New Yorkers and in Americans more broadly.

Zohran has sparked a sort of pre-revolutionary fervor in Americans who, more and more, are rejecting old-guard, openly-liberal Democrats in favor of candidates described as socialists. In Zohran’s case, this is due to his “radical agenda” which aims to make buses fast and free, proposes free childcare for New Yorkers, and raises the minimum wage to $30 per hour, all to be funded in part by raising taxes on New Yorkers who make over $1 million per year. Mamdani, however, is not actually a socialist, as his policies merely aim to reform capitalism to “work for the people,” rather than to replace it as a mode of production altogether. With that being said, Mamdani provides a desperate push toward social-democratic policy to which elitist Democrats have been largely resistant, but that average Americans crave as proven by consistent polling, recent support for reformist campaigns (hamstrung by the Democratic party), and the growing labor and progressive political movements amidst the rise of reactionary politics and fascism in the United States.

Revolutionary Social-Democracy has always included the struggle for reforms as part of its activities. But it utilises “economic” agitation for the purpose of presenting to the government, not only demands for all sorts of measures, but also (and primarily) the demand that it cease to be an autocratic government.

V. I. Lenin, “Trade-Unionist Politics And Social-Democratic Politics,” (from “What Is to be Done”), 1901. 

Mamdani has been very successful in broaching modern media which the functionaries and bureaucrats in the Democratic party resist. His appearances on podcasts, Twitch streams and social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook make him visible to a vast population of Americans whose mainstream media consumption is either little to none or increasingly diverse. While he has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and other bourgeois media outlets, Mamdani does not give up ground in his push for social-democratic policy. The response is less than ideal, with corporate media and the Democratic party alike having a total meltdown upon his sweeping victory, and the tides of misinformation from the openly right-wing news sources joining in to this establishment crash-out.

Media Analysis

The decline into propaganda and misinformation is not a new phenomenon. We can see it everywhere we go, no matter where a person may be on the political spectrum. Revived by the deregulation of standards and sourcing and media conglomeration by the Reagan administration. Post 9/11 America is especially susceptible to this as barriers which were previously left untouched have been completely broken down over years of gathering more power to the executive branch, paired with an inherent need to justify it. This is especially evident in the surge of support for the nationalist MAGA movement since Donald Trump began his infamous campaign for president in 2016. However this fall did not begin with Trump, nor will the climb to a better future end with him.

This “Mirror World,” as Naomi Klein calls it in her most recent publication Doppelganger: A Trip into The Mirror World, discusses this idea of a loss of an objective reality as a response to poor material conditions which we are all experiencing as a result of capitalism. Our overflow of negative experiences, like a market crash or grocery prices rising, are not portrayed as a result of capitalism in mainstream media, but a consequence of the policies of individual Presidents and Congresses who are “definitely” and “clearly” of different ideologies and intentions. This plays a massive role in the explanation as to why others opt for an approach of blaming individuals and minorities who are not the perpetrators of this pain, but who are the most vulnerable and are the easiest to exploit not only as a scapegoat, but as a group to persecute. Islamophobic rhetoric against Arab and Muslim people has created the conditions for their persecution, and it isn’t by accident.

The manufactured consent for capitalism is not new, but it has mutated. With the rise of social media and peoples’ connectivity to one another with just the click of a button, a whole new slew of problems can take root. Islamophobia has been part of this backslide into fascist ideology, with Arab and oppressed nationalities at large being branded as terrorists, especially those who, as Mamdani has done, support Palestinian liberation. The grip which media has on the narrative about Muslims has festered into a complete rampage against Muslim peoples’ existence, platforming voices like Charlie Kirk who spoke at length about Mr. Mamdani, railing that his victory is an “insurgency against the west,” and blatantly using mythological “Great Replacement Theory” talking points. While Kirk’s ravings are absolutely abhorrent, his bigoted tirade is not solely about the hatred of Muslim people.

The descent into fascism in a new digital age requires the spreading of misinformation and harmful rhetoric around our collective problems to divide the working class. In the most recent 2024 election, a decisive factor in Trump’s landslide win was, in part, due to his presence on podcasts and contemporary media which both younger older generations now consume on a more regular basis. It is more accessible, speaks to a broader audience, and is a much more decentralized way to disseminate the news. People now do not just cite a cable news broadcast or an article in a newspaper, but a podcast episode, a YouTube video, or even a TikTok clip. The influx of “slop” posts created by Artificial Intelligence, with poor writing and poorer sourcing, has doubly served to agitate and deceive audiences who engage with social media and do not have the same media literacy to identify artificial and inflammatory content.

Resolution

Zohran Mamdani’s candidness and charming personality is what the Democratic party has long been in need of to stay relevant. It is part of the same personable gravitas and no-nonsense genuineness that made Bernie Sanders so appealing and distinctive to working people. The rejection of his policies by old-guard Democrats suggests a split in the party between the older and younger generations, who view change in completely different contexts, and this requires a hard look at class struggle which Democrats have only used as a hollow talking point without integrating into any significant policies. Mamdani’s battle with Islamophobia and loyal Democratic voters of students and petty-bourgeois liberals within the party is not going away any time soon, but his embrace of modern media and his fresh new takes on how to bring services to working-class New Yorkers is a complete turnaround from the artificial alternative postured by Democratic platforms of past campaigns. 

While we should not view Mamdani as a perfect candidate, nor should we be inclined to create a cult of personality around him, we should prop up his policies as real tangible alternatives and ideas to working-class people, while still remaining within a capitalist framework. His staunch rejection of traditional fundraising and earnest meetings with New Yorkers of all stripes on what he can do for them is one part of an antidote to the anti-worker propaganda which is, evidently, rotting from the inside. Conversely, Mamdani is symptomatic of the new consciousness budding within the working class, struggling to survive and yearning for liberation. The American Party of Labor does not believe that survival, liberation and prosperity will be found within the capitalist system which has built-in mechanisms to preserve the reign of the owning class. However, we will not, as some in the American left do, attack the rising tide of political activity of America’s proletariat, but instead add all our momentum so that the tide washes away the ruin and rot of capitalist society.

Categories: Elections, Government, U.S. News