"Donald Trump Is Attacking Me Because...": Zohran Mamdani's Latest Pushback

New York's Indian-origin Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani hit back at Donald Trump for deportation threats, saying the US President was fanning the flames of division. The 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist said Trump was targeting him because he was desperate to distract Americans from how his administration was betraying the working-class people. In a video clip going viral on social media, Mamdani was heard saying he won't stop his work and "will fight back" against the Republicans. 

"Yesterday, Donald Trump said that I should be arrested. He said that I should be deported. He said that I should be denaturalised. And he said those things about me, someone who stands to be the first immigrant mayor of this city in generations, someone who would also be the first Muslim and the first South Asian mayor in this city's history," the Democrat said while speaking during a rally at the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York. 

"It is less so because of who I am, because of where I come from, because of how I look or how I speak, and more so because he wants to distract from what I fight for. I fight for working people," he added. 

Donald Trump is attacking me because he is desperate to distract from his war on working people. We must and we will fight back. pic.twitter.com/pKEwnijJaG

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) July 2, 2025

Mamdani's surprise victory over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic New York primary has made him a target of Republicans' attacks, who seek to paint him as an extreme leftist and out of touch with voters heading into elections this November. Since Mamdani's win, President Trump has repeatedly attacked him by calling him a "communist" and a "lunatic" while also commenting on his appearance. 

Hitting back at Trump, Mamdani said, "ultimately it is easier for him to fan the flames of division than to acknowledge the ways in which he has betrayed those working class Americans not just in this city but across this country and the ways in which he continues to betray them."

Mamdani also criticised Trump's flagship tax and spending legislation-- the "One Big Beautiful Bill"--  that is awaiting the key vote in the US Congress due Thursday. He said Trump would rather speak about him than the legislation, which will "quite literally take health care away from Americans."

"Legislation that will steal food from the hungry. Legislation that looks to build upon one of the largest transfers of wealth we've seen in recent history in his first administration and do it once again for the very Americans who have had enough," he added. 

The Democrat's statement came after Trump labelled him a "Communist lunatic" and vowed to save New York City from him.

In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, "As President of the United States, I'm not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York. Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I'll save New York City, and make it "Hot" and "Great" again, just like I did with the Good Ol' USA!"

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in the US Congress delayed a key vote for hours on Trump's signature tax and spending bill on Wednesday as they scrambled to win over a group of rebels threatening to torpedo the centrepiece of the president's domestic agenda.

Trump is seeking final approval in the House of Representatives for his Senate-passed "One Big Beautiful Bill" -- but faces opposition on all sides of his fractious party over provisions set to balloon the national debt while launching a historic assault on the social safety net.