Days after the Mamdani-DSA socialist or communist victories in New York City, there was all manner of punditry speculation about a populist revolt, the breakdown of conventional political organizations, I guess in this case the Democratic party. Economic worries about affordability and probably other factors that undoubtedly have some merit.
Yet to me, and I want to be very clear about this, the single strongest animating fervor that unites this Mamdani socialist movement is antisemitism, a hatred of Jewish people, and a desire to eliminate the state of Israel. And that includes the diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI movement, which in many ways is the progenitor of this scourge of antisemitism.
Just look at any of these socialist mayors and their fellow travelers in New York of course, but don’t forget Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, the odd Senate race in Maine, and the other crackpot Senate candidate in Michigan. And you will find a constant refrain attacking Israel, trying to explain away the horrific barbaric slaughter in Israel on October 7, 2023. Even defending Hamas who made the slaughter.
One candidate here in New York, Darializa Avila Chevalier, organized a pro-Palestine rally at Columbia University the day after the horrific Israeli attack by Hamas. Just scroll through their tweets and other communications and you’ll see constant references, against Jews, against Israel, in favor of Hamas, or any of the anti-Israeli terrorist groups, somehow all in the name of Palestine, which is actually a place that exists only in the imagination of these far-left radicals.
How ironic that Israel itself enjoys commercial, trading, and business, even governance with large parts of Palestine, and the Arab communities who live on the West Bank, all of this unbeknownst to these crazy American antisemites. And they’d rather talk about all of that than anything positive ever about America. Indeed, whether it’s wiping their hands on the American flag, or blaming America for 9/11, or denying Holocaust standards, or arresting Benjamin Netanyahu. You could almost say antisemitism is not only the animating force behind this Mamdani socialism, it’s almost the only force. Yet, on the economic side, there is an aha moment.
The latest agenda published by the national DSA includes abolishing the United States Senate, defunding the military, open borders, universal amnesty for illegal immigrants, national takeover of large corporations, defunding the police, free government everything, including all healthcare and including abortions, voting rights for criminals, confiscatory taxation of wealth and income, and penalizing business wherever possible. Plus, stacking the Supreme Court.
So as President Trump said it’s hard to know if this is socialism or communism or whatever. As he put it: “Well, they’re going radical left.” He added: “You know, you talk about the Democrat socialists,” but “it’s really communists. That’s these people. I watched that woman last night. That’s not a socialist. I know socialist.” He concluded: “that woman is a communist.”
Well whatever ism, I know one: it is antisemitism. And thus far we are seeing virtually nothing about men and women of goodwill in politics or business or anywhere who have the courage to stand up to this antisemitism.
It will presumably be up to the Republicans this autumn in the midterm elections to draw a very clear contrast with this new Mamdani-AOC socialist tail that is suddenly wagging the entire Democratic party dog. Yet it will not be sufficient to merely disagree on their crazy economics, or their border, or their security, or their hatred of our military. The issue of hate and bigotry of any kind, and yes of course antisemitism, must be ended. Full stop.