Zohran Mamdani riding high despite New York Post’s daily demonization

Summary

The media-savvy mayor’s popularity has only grown as the Murdoch-owned tabloid has thrown everything at him The rightwing New York Post has attacked Zohran Mamdani as a communist, a hater of the police, an antisemite, a driver-away-of-billionaires, and as someone who isn’t very good at bench press. But six months into his mayoralty, Mamdani has so far succeeded where most of his predecessors have failed: he has bested the city’s most powerful tabloid. Despite enduring near daily criticism from the Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, since he launched his campaign for mayor in late 2024, Mamdani’s popularity in the city has grown in line with his influence – which saw the three candidates he endorsed for Congress win their primaries in June. “The New York Post is very influential, but there’s a real chance that it has met its match in Mamdani, that’s the shift here, and there’s never been a politician of his national stature and ability to combat the Post until he arrived on the scene,” said Ross Barkan, an author and columnist whose latest book, The Revolutionary : Zohran Mamdani and the Remaking of American Politics, will be released in October. Indeed, rather than Mamdani being diminished by rightwing attacks, a Siena University poll in late June found that Mamdani’s favorability had actually increased over the previous two months. About 58% of New Yorkers approve of the mayor, with only 26% disapproving – ratings that are better than the Democratic party as a whole. The popularity surge is not for want of trying from the Post, which publishes multiple pieces on the mayor every day. From Monday to Wednesday this week the Post has published 29 pieces that were tagged “Zohran Mamdani”, stories which ranged from criticizing the mayor over his stance on Israel , for his plans for public supermarkets , for his plans to invest more in public schools , over the spelling of a police officer’s name, for “ignoring Little Italy” on a map of New York’s immigrant neighborhoods, and for his wife going on holiday . Historically, the Post has managed to weaken liberal mayors. Bill de Blasio, a progressive, served two terms as mayor from 2014 to 2021, but parts of his agenda stalled in the face of relentless criticism – as did his subsequent bid for the presidency. “He did have relative popularity, but he was never beloved, and he did not have the same ability, unlike Mamdani, to exert his political will in various [political] races,” Barkan said. The vibes are actually pretty good, whether or not they’re credited to Mamdani.” Barkan, who ran for New York state senate in 2018 with Mamdani as his campaign manager, said the Post was still figuring out how to deal with Mamdani, but for now was a “ship at sea”. “While the New York Post is benefiting in terms of page views and interest, because they never run out of ways to attack him, the reality is they have not moved the needle politically against him,” he said. “They attack Mamdani every day, but the average New Yorker looks at some of their criticisms and rolls their eyes, because they’ve not yet found the talking point that sticks.”