Bernie Sanders backs Zohran Mamdani in Brooklyn Fighting Oligarchy rally
New York, New York - Senator Bernie Sanders, on the road with his Fighting Oligarchy Tour, threw his support behind New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani in a high-energy rally at Brooklyn College on Saturday evening.
"I cannot begin my remarks this evening without first acknowledging PSC [Professional Staff Congress] CUNY and the incredible members that we have here and the fact that no faculty member should be disciplined for supporting Palestinian human rights," Mamdani said, addressing the union that represents 30,000 faculty and staff at the City University of New York and the CUNY Research Foundation.
The statement – met with chants of "Free, Free Palestine" from the crowd – came in response to reports that the City University of New York had fired four adjunct professors for their anti-war advocacy in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Mamdani went on to praise Sanders as an "icon" for inspiring people across the country in his years as a senator, two-time presidential candidate, and four-term mayor of Burlington, Vermont.
The 33-year-old state assemblymember said his own campaign for mayor is building on Sanders' legacy. He and his supporters seek to prove in November that "New York City is not for sale to Donald Trump's billionaire donors, it is not for sale to corporations like DoorDash, it is not for sale to corrupt politicians like Andrew Cuomo."
Mamdani defeated Cuomo in June's Democratic mayoral primary with a message of making New York City affordable for all. The disgraced ex-governor has since launched a third-party bid for the mayor's office amid reports that Trump and other powerful interests are trying to influence the election in his favor.
"We will continue to organize beyond the election. We will continue to organize because we have an agenda to win," Mamdani vowed to cheers.
Bernie Sanders throws his weight behind Zohran Mamdani
Sanders then took the stage to back Mamdani, whom he endorsed in June, to become the next mayor of New York City.
"What Zohran's campaign is about is that today we are living in an unprecedented moment in the modern history of our country, and we have got to fight back in an unprecedented way," said the Vermont independent, who attended Brooklyn College for a year.
The senator went on to deplore the US' staggering incoming inequality, extreme concentration of ownership, and control of the media by the wealthy few.
"Bottom line: never before in American and, in fact, in world history have so few people had so much wealth and economic power," Sanders said.
Amid this backdrop, that Sanders cast the New York City mayoral election as a "test case of whether democracy is still able to prevail."
"They [the oligarchs] are afraid of Mr. Mamdani becoming an example for what can happen all over this country," Sanders said.
"What we are here tonight to say is, 'To hell with you. We're going to take you on. We're going to defeat you.' That's what this campaign and that's what fighting oligarchy is about."
New Yorkers hit the polls on November 4 in one of the most closely watched elections of the year to determine who will lead the nation's largest city.
Cover photo: REUTERS