Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani sharply criticized new mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration and ideological message Thursday, stating that Mamdani made clear he intends to govern for a political faction rather than the entire city.
Giuliani contrasted Mamdani’s remarks with his own approach after taking office in 1994. “I was elected as a Republican,” Giuliani said. “And I think what I said in my inauguration is, ‘I’m going to govern for all the people because now there are no Republicans, no Democrats, no liberals, no conservatives. Every one of you is a New Yorker.’”
Giuliani said that approach helped guide his administration as the city emerged from years of rising crime and economic decline. “I didn’t go pick out the Republicans and just help them,” he said. “That’s what I got to fight for, all of you.”
Mamdani, who was sworn in earlier in the day as the city’s 112th mayor, declared during his inauguration that “I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” a statement Giuliani described as signaling a refusal to seek common ground.
“There’s no hope until he’s gone,” Giuliani said. “He made it clear he’s not going to go to the middle.”
Giuliani noted that past leaders from both parties have attempted to be moderate after elections, even when campaigning from the ideological left or right. “How many people have won from the right or the left and they make some attempt to try to go to the middle?” Giuliani said. “He basically told you, go to hell.”
Mamdani, 34, is New York City’s first Muslim and openly socialist mayor and the youngest to take office in more than a century. His inauguration and policy agenda have drawn strong reactions from business leaders, conservatives, and political opponents across the city.
