NEW YORK, NY — As Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old candidate for mayor of New York City, took selfies with adoring fans on a recent Sunday in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a heckler in a MAGA hat began shouting with a megaphone only a few feet away.
“You’re a socialist,” the man cried out to the crowd. “If you hate America, you should leave.”
Normally, that label—the s-word—might be considered a slur, or at least a political liability. But not to this crowd.
“Yeah, dude,” a Mamdani supporter in wire-rimmed glasses scoffed. “We are socialists.”
Laughs peeled in from across the park. A terrier with a keffiyeh around its neck began barking with excitement. Volunteers handing out Spanish-language pamphlets craned their necks to catch the commotion. Suddenly, a chant caught on.