‘Because I fight for working individuals’: Mamdani on why Trump wants him arrested- watch

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday responded to Donald Trump’s repeated calls for his arrest and deportation, saying the US president’s hostility wasn’t about his id however about what he stood for. “Yesterday, Donald Trump said that I should be arrested. He said that I should be deported. He said that I should be denaturalised. And he said those things about me, someone who stands to be the first immigrant mayor of this city in generations, someone who would also be the first Muslim and the first South Asian mayor in this city’s history,” he mentioned addressing a gathering.“It is less so because of who I am, because of where I come from, because of how I look or how I speak, and more so because he wants to distract from what I fight for. I fight for working people,” he added.He additional mentioned that Trump’s assault was aimed toward fanning “the flames of division than to acknowledging the ways in which he has betrayed those working class Americans not just in this city but across this country and the ways in which he continues to betray them.”Criticising the Big Beautiful Bill, Mamdani mentioned, “Legislation that will steal food from the hungry. Legislation that looks to build upon one of the largest transfers of wealth we’ve seen in recent history in his first administration and do it once again for the very Americans who have had enough.”The current remarks got here after Trump vowed to not “let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York”. “As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York. Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it “Hot” and “Great” again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!” he mentioned in a submit on Truth Social.Mamdani’s victory over Andrew Cuomo has made him a chief Republican goal, as they attempt to painting Democrats as excessive forward of upcoming elections. If elected, Mamdani could be New York City’s furthest-left mayor in trendy historical past, with a platform of city-run groceries, free buses, lease freezes, and better property taxes on rich areas.