SiriusXM host Stephen A. Smith shared his worries about Democratic New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s upcoming term on “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.” on Wednesday.
Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist, won on Tuesday on a platform of raising taxes on corporations and wealthy New Yorkers, freezing rents, free buses, city-owned grocery stores and free childcare. Smith said on his show that he particularly feared Mamdani’s socialist policies and stance on crime.
“I’m going to tell you why I’m not happy about it … I’m very, very concerned about some of the things that he said. I’m very concerned about what he once said about defunding the police … I don’t want to see less police officers,” Smith said. “I want to see more police officers. I heard him talk about mental health experts in the subway system. I don’t care about that. I want cops in the subways in New York City, where I was born and raised … I don’t want to hear about no damn mental health experts in subways.”
The SiriusXM host said he was okay with Mamdani’s tax hikes, but expressed skepticism that his ideas on free buses and grocery stores would be effective. However, he also noted that billionaires already pay a disproportionate share of taxes in New York City.
“And if you’re talking about raising their taxes while doing these other things, you’re making New York unattractive — not just for residents, but for businesses,” Smith said. “And if you make it unattractive for businesses and you compromise the ability to be the capitalists that these people are, then they take their businesses elsewhere. So the money that they paid on their homes or on rent, they move out of the city or the state. Businesses follow and then ultimately the tax burden falls onto New Yorkers out there.”
He added that wealth moving out of New York City could hamper Mamdani’s plan to freeze rents. He also argued that the mayor-elect’s policies in general likely were not feasible.
“I just want to know where the money coming from,” Smith said. “See, I count, okay? I count.”
“The people who love Mamdani the most are not people who pay bills every day. I’m not saying that applies to everybody,” he added. “I’m not implying that. But they’re certainly not people that pay bills every day, all the time. You don’t see business owners clamoring to support him.”
Independent New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo won among New Yorkers earning less than $30,000 against Mamdani by a 48% to 42% margin, according to a CNN exit poll.
Mamdani advocated in a June 28, 2020, X post for defunding the New York City Police Department, characterizing the department as “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety.” He backtracked on this stance during his campaign for mayor.
Rich New Yorkers were preparing to flee for Palm Beach, Florida, ahead of Mamdani’s looming victory, Fox News reported on Oct. 27.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
