Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) defended New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, a fellow progressive, in a heated interview Monday.
“The issue is affordability. Do you know how many working families are chased out of New York City every day because they can’t afford housing, they can’t afford groceries, they can’t afford child care?” Warren said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
“What Zohran is saying [is], ‘I want people to be able to afford to live in New York City.’ That’s what keeps it a vibrant city. That’s what makes people want to live here,” she added.
“Nobody disagrees with that, senator, but raising taxes in order to do it? Why is that the answer?” CNBC’s David Faber shot back at Warren.
“Oh my goodness,” Warren cut in, using a mocking tone. “Oh dear, are you worried that billionaires are going to go hungry?”
In the June Democratic primary for New York City mayor, Mamdani toppled political heavyweight and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a shock upset.
Mamdani’s platform states that he has a plan to “raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s 11.5%, bringing in $5 billion.”
“And he will tax the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers—those earning above $1 million annually—a flat 2% tax (right now city income tax rates are essentially the same whether you make $50,000 or $50 million),” the Democratic candidate’s platform continues.
In an opinion piece for Rolling Stone published Monday, Warren said Mamdani “pulled off an inspiring 12-point victory to become the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York.”
“How did he do it? He campaigned relentlessly on lowering costs for families, helping him build a grassroots movement so strong that millions of dollars in attack ads couldn’t touch him,” she added.
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