New York City's incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, hasn't taken office yet.But he's already the new avatar of evil for conservative media figures.He's been called “downright sinister” and “incompatible with America.” His labels include commie, Marxist, jihadist sympathizer and “seething leftist.” Fox News' Laura Ingraham warned her viewers not to be fooled by “smiling socialists who rule like Soviet tyrants.”A New York Post post-election cover that depicted Mamdani holding aloft the Soviet Union's hammer and sickle symbol sold out on newsstands by noon and was offered on e-Bay for $75.
By the end of the day, the Post was selling baby onesies and commemorative plates emblazoned with the cover.Already, conservative outlets see Mamdani joining Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton as someone guaranteed to make their audiences' blood boil.And by doing so, they can help Republicans in the midterm elections.“It's very clear that he's going to be the No.
1 target of right-wing media for the foreseeable future, well into 2026,” said Howard Polskin, publisher of the Righting, a newsletter that follows conservative media.“He's colorful, controversial and not afraid of a fight.”The head of an outlet that Polskin regularly monitors, the Daily Signal, said Mamdani is likely seen as a threat because his appeal to working-class Americans who feel left behind by the economy is similar to that of President Donald Trump, although they have different ideas about how to handle that.“Remember years ago there was Nancy Pelosi who was the bogeyman for Republicans,” said Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of the Daily Signal.
“I think Mamdani is probably going to be the new person.I think that’s why you see a lot of emphasis on him in conservative media.”In the Washington Examiner, editor-in-chief Hugo Gurdon saw ominous signs in Mamdani's election night victory speech.
“He was downright sinister, glorying not just in his ach...