Among the Republicans that CNN This Morning has permitted into its Group Chat, T.W. Arrighi put in an exceptional performance on Friday's episode. He authored a definitive takedown of NYC's new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and his radical agenda.
His key point was that Mamdani's socialist ideas have been tried across the country and around the world and have, inevitably, failed. All Mamdani has done is to wrap up old, failed ideas "in shiny new packaging." Arrighi gave several examples of the ideas Mamdani is proposing that have been tried and failed elsewhere.
ARRIGHI: You can look around the country and around the world and see examples of all of his policies, put in shiny new packaging, of many examples of them failing time and time again. You look at rent, freezing rent. Well, St. Paul froze rent recently. Building permits are down 61%. Across the river in Minneapolis, they're up 64%. You talk about grocery stores run by the city. Kansas City tried that. There was rotting food and rats everywhere in a short period of time.
We talk about wealth taxes, should that happen. There was a great example in New York in the early 2000s and again in Maryland where they tried these huge increases of taxes on the wealthy. And in Maryland, they lost money on the deal. And people fleed the state, especially millionaires, not billionaires. Millionaires, the people who make up that tax base for that higher rate.
Then, he added other Mamdani views: "That's not even talking about globalizing the intifada, his thoughts on policing, et cetera, et cetera, seizing the means of production, failed in Venezuela. What we're seeing is all these failed ideas of history brought back in shiny new packaging, in a new face. They will fail, and he will be a great lightning rod."
And speaking of new faces, Arrighi managed to make his Mamdani takedown while maintaining a pleasant demeanor and a smile on his face. Arrighi even got former Biden aide Meghan Hays to agree with him on the brass tacks: if Mamdani can't keep the streets clean and the city safe, there will be the same sort of change that brought about the mayoralty of former cop Eric Adams.
PS: Two observations on Mamdani's remarks:
- He proudly rejected those who say that "the era of big government is over." Bill Clinton, author of that remark back in the day, was notably not in attendance. The US debt is currently over $38 trillion and growing fast. The era of big government is over? If only!
- He boasted that "to fulfill the affordability agenda that we have been running on [by raising taxes] . . . it is critical in a moment like this to not allow fiscal challenges to become an excuse for austerity." Translation: don't let reality intrude on our pipe dreams!
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
1/2/26
6:00 am ETZOHRAN MAMDANI: I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.
BRIAN ABEL: What his ascent could mean for Democrats trying to win back Congress in the midterms. Zohran Mamdani, now New York's mayor, and he's doubling down on the platform that took him there. Mayor Mamdani was sworn into office by one of his biggest progressive supporters, Senator Bernie Sanders, and used his first address on New Year's Day to declare he would not change his political identity. Instead, He promised once again to pursue his ambitious agenda, an agenda which includes universal child care for children up to five years old, freezing rent prices for two million residents, and making buses free across the city, an agenda which has a price tag of more than $6 billion.
MAMDANI: The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try? I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist.
ABEL: Joining me now in the group chat, Margaret Talev, senior contributor at Axios, T.W. Arrighi, former senior communications aide to Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo, and Meghan Hays, former director of message planning at the Biden White House.
. . .
MAMDANI: To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this. No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers' lives.
ABEL So, Margaret, what's at stake here, not just for Mamdani and New York, but also the greater Democratic party here? Because talking about big government isn't always a winning strategy.
MARGARET TALEV: He's 34 years old. He represents a younger, more progressive wing of the Democratic party.
MAMDANI: To fulfill the affordability agenda that we have been running on is by raising taxes on the 1% of New Yorkers who make a million dollars a year by an additional 2%, and by raising the state's top corporate tax rate to match that of New Jersey. We put this forward because it is critical in a moment like this to not allow fiscal challenges to become an excuse for austerity.
. . .
TW ARRIGHI: A lot of things got him elected, including just the sheer talent the man has as a communicator and as a politician. When I hear him talk about raising taxes, my first thought is, Albany will want to say something about that, because that's their job. It's not his job as mayor of New York.
Also, when he talked about successes and will it work, won't it, we should look at states and cities as laboratories of democracy. And you can look around the country and around the world and see examples of all of his policies, put in shiny new packaging, of many examples of them failing time and time again.
You look at rent, freezing rent. Well, St. Paul froze rent recently. Building permits are down 61%. Across the river in Minneapolis, they're up 64%. You talk about grocery stores run by the city. Kansas City tried that. There was rotting food and rats everywhere in a short period of time. We talk about wealth taxes, should that happen. There was a great example in New York in the early 2000s and again in Maryland where they tried these huge increases of taxes on the wealthy. And in Maryland, they lost money on the deal. And people fleed the state, especially millionaires, not billionaires. Millionaires, the people who make up that tax base for that higher rate.
So it's all failed policies brought, and that's not even talking about globalizing the intifada, his thoughts on policing, et cetera, et cetera, seizing the means of production, failed in Venezuela. What we're seeing is all these failed ideas of history brought back in shiny new packaging, in a new face. They will fail, and he will be a great lightning rod.
But at the end of the day, if the streets are dirty and they're unsafe, we saw this with DeBlasio, who was a far-left mayor, we'll get a change that brought Eric Adams, the former police officer, into the mayorship.
MEGHAN HAYS: That's a really great point. If a mayor can't remove trash and remove snow and keep your streets safe, nobody cares about anything else. So he needs to be able to do the basics before he starts with some of these policies that he wants.
ABEL: I'm not sure what time frame you were referring to, but I did live in Kansas City for a while. That was not my experience with rats.
ARRIGHI: I'm going to share the reporting.
ABEL: Fair enough, fair enough.
