New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and two of his most prominent supporters, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, framed their election as a one-on-one battle against President Donald Trump and his administration at a raucous rally in Queens on Sunday.
Speaker after speaker at Sunday's rally, which drew thousands to a tennis stadium, said Mamdani's election would essentially serve as the opening salvo in the fight to take the country back from Trump and his allies.
“We are gathered here today at a dangerous moment for our country,” said Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. “And to the precipices of hope for our city.”
She said Mamdani's election would “send a loud message” to Trump, adding that opposition to Mamdani, a state legislator, in the election “reflects what we face nationally,” condemning “an authoritarian, criminal presidency fueled by corruption and bigotry.”
“It was a day before his presidency,” Ocasio-Cortez said. – And there will be a day after.
Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor, rallied supporters along with Sanders, I-Verton and Ocasio-Cortez after early voting in the mayoral race began Saturday with less than 10 days left before the Nov. 4 election. The rally was billed as “New York is not for sale,” echoing language Sanders has used at rallies he has held across the country this year.
Taking the stage after Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, Mamdani spoke about his improbable path to the Democratic nomination, saying that at one point polls showed him with a rating of 1%.
“Now, as we stand on the cusp of taking back this city from the corrupt politicians and billionaires who bankroll it, let our words be loud enough today for Andrew Cuomo to hear them in his $8,000-a-month apartment,” Mamdani said, adding that he hopes “the puppet master in the White House,” Cuomo, hears them too.
“We've risen in the polls faster than Andrew Cuomo could dial Donald Trump,” he added. “People started saying my name.”
Cuomo, a former governor, is running in the general election as an independent candidate.
Mamdani called for an end to “the era of a government that considers the problem too small and the crisis too big.”
“Because we need a government that is as ambitious as our opponents,” he said. “A government strong enough to reject the realities we don’t accept and create the future.
“We will no longer allow the Republican Party to be the party of ambition,” he continued. “We will no longer have to open a history book to read about Democrats leading with big ideas. My friends, the world is changing. The question is not whether the change will come. The question is who will change it.”
The survey has Mamdani was shown successively34, with a 10 to 20 point lead over Cuomo in a three-way general election that also includes Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Cuomo recently received an endorsement from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who also ran as an independent before dropping out last month. Influential Republican figures in the city also rallied behind Cuomo over Plum, seeing him as the best chance to defeat Mamdani.
Sanders said in his address: “This election is taking place while we have an administration in Washington that every day moves us closer to an authoritarian society, undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”
“The reason this campaign has generated so much interest around the world and so much excitement is because people want to know the answer to one very simple question. And that is: in 2025, when the people at the top have never, ever had so much economic and political power, is it possible for ordinary people, working class people, to come together and defeat these oligarchs? You're damn right we can.”
Some Democratic leaders have been slow to rally behind Mamdani, a former Democratic Socialists of America activist who runs on a platform of, among other things, a rent freeze in the city's rent-stabilized apartments, universal child care and free bus service. His unapologetic pro-Palestinian stance also galvanized anti-Israel progressives amid the war in Gaza. At one point, during the warm-up speeches of progressive officials, the crowd began chanting “DSA, DSA, DSA” during a call and response for the Democratic Socialists of America.
Speaking at the rally, state Sen. Julia Salazar described how many Democratic socialists had been elected in her state since her election in 2018 and received loud applause when she condemned the “genocide in Palestine.”
“And now we are on the cusp of electing Zohran Mamdani as our democratic socialist mayor right here in the largest and greatest city in the country,” she said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Mamdani last month, praising his focus on affordability. Same on Friday made by House Minority Leader Hakeem JeffriesD.N.Y.
Hochul spoke at Sunday's rally, accompanied by Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Carl Heastie, the Democratic leaders of the state Senate and Assembly, respectively. She took aim at Trump, saying he is “a devastating blow to our values, our people and our progress,” and denounced immigration raids in New York, Trump's handling of the government shutdown and the federal indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James that Trump pushed prosecutors to pursue.
“If they can go after Tish James, they can go after any of us,” Hochul said.
She stressed the three Democratic Party leaders need Mamdani to become mayor of New York, calling for a champion to join them in achieving their priorities.
“He doesn’t go into the ditch with everyone else,” Hochul said. “He rises with grace, courage and tenacity.”
At one point, the crowd began chanting “Tax the rich,” to which Hochul said, “I hear you.”
“I have one request for you,” she said. “I love seeing that energy and that passion…I'm so excited about what's going on here…But take that energy, that passion, and take it into '26 so we can take back the House of Representatives, so we can take back the Senate, and we can take back our country.”
Trump sought to influence the racedenouncing Mamdani as a “communist” and threatening to withhold additional federal funding from the city if Mamdani wins. Mamdani, in turn, promised to fight Trump’s attempts to bring the city under its knees and positioned himself as candidate most open to fight to him.
In his address, Mamdani noted that Trump became president just days after announcing his campaign for mayor. Bronx and Queens showed some of the most significant shifts to the right all districts of the country in November last year.
“No matter what article you read or what channel you turned to, the stories seemed the same,” Mamdani said. “Our city was moving to the right. Obituaries were written about the Democrats' ability to reach Asian voters, young voters, male voters. Over and over we were told that if we had any hope of beating the GOP, it would be if we became the GOP.”
“Andrew Cuomo himself said that we failed not because we failed to respond to the needs of the American working class, but because we spent too much time talking about bathrooms and sports teams,” Mamdani continued. “It was a moment when it seemed like our political horizon was narrowing. And at that moment, New York, you had a choice: retreat or fight… And the choice we made was to stop listening to these experts and start listening to you.”
The latest chapter in the heated mayoral race. followed an emotional address by Mamdani on Friday condemning the “racist, baseless” attacks he has faced for his Muslim faith in recent days, some of which came from his main rival in the election race, he said. Mamdani will become the first Muslim mayor in New York history.
“And I thought that if I behaved well enough or bit my tongue enough in the face of racist, unfounded attacks, while returning to my core message, that would allow me to be more than just my faith,” Mamdani added, seemingly getting emotional. “I was wrong. No amount of redirection is ever enough.”
In a radio appearance Thursday, Cuomo appeared to agree with a conservative host who said Mamdani would be happy if there was a terrorist attack in the city. A Cuomo campaign spokesman later told NBC News that Cuomo disagreed with the host, and Cuomo said at a news conference that he found the remark “offensive.”
“Zoran himself is a person who has created tensions with the Jewish community, the LGBT community, the Italian community, the black community, etc.,” Cuomo said. “He's not a victim, he's a criminal, and this is a political tactic.”
At Mamdani's rally on Sunday, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who also ran for mayor in the June primary, stressed that Mamdani would “work to keep Jewish New Yorkers and all New Yorkers safe” and denounced the anti-Islamic sentiment Mamdani has faced in recent weeks. Lander was among several Jewish and Muslim speakers who addressed the crowd.
Sanders said: “Let me tell you something else. At a time when Americans are extremely concerned about where we are as a nation, economically and politically, a victory here in New York will give hope and inspiration to people across our country and around the world.”
