Mamdani calls AOC an ‘inspiration’ amid talk of 2028 White House
The lawmaker has sparked speculation in recent months about whether he is interested in higher office. Mamdani said of AOC:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said this week that he believes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will run for president, and predicted that Mayor Zoran Mamdani will replace longtime Sen. Chuck Schumer.
“We may disagree with Democrats on taxes and regulations, but this country needs two political parties that actually love America,” Cruz wrote Thursday.
The prediction comes as recent polls in battleground states have shown Ocasio-Cortez as one of the frontrunners in the Democratic presidential primary, while Mamdani has taken the Democratic Party by storm since her election in November.
“She’s the No. 1 Democratic candidate in the nation in New Hampshire,” Cruz said on Fox News. “My prediction is that Comrade Mamdani will be the next Democratic senator from New York, and Mamdani will replace Schumer.”
According to the July 22 Granite State Poll, a state opinion project conducted by the University of New Hampshire, AOC had just selected former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg as the Democratic nominee from a field of 648 potential voters in the New Hampshire presidential primary.
He called Mamdani “the single most powerful Democrat in this country.”
“Some Republicans are celebrating,” Cruz said. “For the record, I’m not celebrating. I think this is bad for the country.”
The two New York politicians have worked together in the past, with Mamdani calling Ocasio-Cortez an “inspiration” last week.
“We’re excited to continue working together. For a long time, politics has been understood as an individual matter, but what’s really interesting is that at the heart of that partnership is a belief in the collective.”
“I think she’ll do everything well. I think she’s a great legislator. I think she’ll bring those same qualities to whatever job she does.”
AOC has not officially confirmed she is running for president, and Mamdani said she is focused on New York City.
