Zohran Mamdani fires back, says Trump ‘desperate to distract’ from his fight for working class

Trump targets Mamdani again

New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani has fired back at US President Donald Trump over deportation threats, accusing him of “fanning the flames of division” and being “desperate to distract from his war.”

Speaking to reporters, Mamdani also alleged that Trump has “betrayed working-class Americans” and claimed the President’s legislation would strip people of their healthcare.

“Yesterday, Donald Trump said that I should be arrested, that I should be deported, that I should be de-naturalised, 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 the city’s history," Mamdani said while addressing reporters.

“…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," Mamdani said.

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

“I fight for working people. I fight for the very people that have been priced out of this city, and I fight for the same people that he said he was fighting for" he added.

Mamdani commenting on cost of living in the said, "This is the same President who ran on a campaign of cheaper groceries, who ran on a campaign about easing a suffocating cost of living crisis, and 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 the city, but across this country."

He further accused Trump of betraying the people, saying, “We know he would rather talk about me than address the legislation he’s pushing through Washington, D.C.—legislation that will literally take healthcare away from Americans, steal food from the hungry, and build upon one of the largest wealth transfers in recent history from his first administration, once again benefiting those who already have more than enough.”

This came after President Trump criticized Mamdani calling him “communist lunatic” and vowing to “save the city” from his leadership.

In a Truth Social post, Trump 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!”