Supporters of socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani heckled New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) during her appearance at the candidate’s rally in Queens on Sunday, video shows.
Hochul formally endorsed Mamdani in September, asserting that she has “heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe.”
““In the past few months, I’ve had frank conversations with him. We’ve had our disagreements. But in our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family,” she said.
“I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable — a goal I enthusiastically support,” she added at the time.
Nearly a week ahead of the November 4 race, Hochul appeared at Mamdani’s rally, but she was not necessarily greeted with enthusiasm, finding the crowd aggressively drowning her out with shouts of “Tax the rich!”
As the New York Post noted:
Hochul has previously ripped Mamdani’s plan to impose a 2% income tax on Big Apple residents who make more than $1 million a year and inflate the corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5%, the same as New Jersey.
When Hochul was asked in a June interview if she backed Mamdani’s plan to tax wealthy New Yorkers and up the corporate tax, she flatly replied, “No.”
In another instance, Hochul pronounced Mamdani’s name wrong, which earned her more pushback from the crowd.
“Couldn’t imagine more of a disaster for @KathyHochul this evening,” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) remarked, pointing to what she described as “BRUTAL FOOTAGE for @KathyHochul who is an accidental Governor, the least liked Governor in the country, and the most unpopular elected official in New York State.”
Hochul managed to make a few remarks during her speech, stating, “Right now, our city and our state and our country are under attack by Donald Trump and our Republicans in Washington.” However, as she continued, so did the hecklers.
“Oh, you’re fired up, you’re fired up,” Hochul said in response.
“Alright. I can hear you,” she said, asking “You want to see Zohran or not?” She earned even more pushback for mispronouncing his name. Eventually, Mamdani came out and embraced Hochul, whom he has not endorsed in the governor’s race at this point.
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