The Treasury Secretary has warned New Yorkers they’re on their own if they elect Zohran Mamdani for mayor, an outcome looking increasingly likely despite the fury of the White House.
Mamdani, a left-leaning Democrat who has been branded a “communist” by the Oval Office, won the democratic NYC mayoral primaries with policies such as free childcare for all and city-owned grocery stores to keep prices down. He has also pledged to build 200,000 affordable housing units and increasing taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and biggest corporations.
Bessent, who founded a global hedge fund in New York, has vowed that if the Big Apple finds itself in a budgetary bind because of these policies, then the government will refuse to help.
Bessent—whether aware of Ford’s U-turn or not—seemed determined to drive his warning home: “You can’t enact policies like this and expect to be bailed out.”
He added: “Everyone who stayed now wants to leave. All the high earners, all the businesses … if we go back over the past fie years we have seen the greatest transfer of wealth in U.S. history from Manhattan to Palm Beach County. Mamdani could be the greatest thing for Florida real estate.”
Bessent isn’t the only one leveraging the might of the Treasury against New Yorkers—Trump has also made similar threats.
“I call him my little communist,” Trump added. “He’s my little communist mayor, but you know, he has to come to Washington for money, a lot of money.”
