Former White House adviser Matt Mowers accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday of using the nation’s 250th anniversary to promote communism rather than celebrate America’s founding.
Mowers, speaking on a recent episode of “Ed Henry: The Big Take,” described the mayor’s remarks as divisive.
“This is what you expect out of the communists,” Mowers said. “They don’t believe in the pride of a nation. They believe in a radical political ideology which spans across countries.”
Mamdani, who became a U.S. citizen in 2018, delivered a roughly 15-minute speech on Friday from City Hall while seated at George Washington’s desk and flanked by newly naturalized American citizens.
In his speech, Mamdani described the United States as a “nation of contradictions,” criticized capitalism, wealth inequality, and U.S. involvement in foreign wars, and argued that the nation’s founding ideals remain a work in progress.
Mowers stated that the timing of Mamdani’s speech—on the eve of Independence Day and the nation’s semiquincentennial celebration—was deliberate.
“He chose the day before our 250th celebration of independence to launch this divisive type of speech,” Mowers said. “He’s trying to tear people apart at a time when we should be united and celebrating.”
Mowers also criticized Mamdani for using newly naturalized citizens as political props during the address.
“What really sunk it to me was the fact that he was using these new legal citizens as political props to stand around him,” Mowers said. “I was actually looking to see if any of them were going to blink in Morse code. I thought they were being held hostage against their own choosing.”
Mowers contrasted Mamdani’s remarks with the attitudes of many immigrants who become U.S. citizens legally.
“Some of the most proud individuals you’ve ever met who are so proud of being Americans are those who have come here legally,” he said. “They have earned their citizenship, and they love this country—not like Mamdani, who hates it.”
Mamdani’s speech drew criticism from Republicans, who argued he used a historic national milestone to focus on the country’s shortcomings rather than commemorate its founding.
Supporters, meanwhile, maintained that the mayor sought to frame patriotism as recognizing America’s imperfections while striving to fulfill its founding principles.
