OPINION:
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called out President Trump’s attacks on Iran as a “catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression,” and when given a chance to clarify or retract a couple days later, instead dug deeper and said he knew “that what Americans want at this moment is peace” and what they don’t want is “to see the bombing of cities” and “the killing of civilians.”
All socialists are arrogant because they think they know better than individuals how individuals ought to live their lives. But Mamdani is a new level of arrogance.
He’s a mayor. But he speaks for all Americans?
He ought not be speaking at all. As a socialist — as a self-described democratic socialist who is more truthfully a Marxist — but even so, as a politician who proclaims proudly to belong to the ideological leanings of socialism, Mamdani has no proper role in the U.S. government. He can’t honestly stand for the Constitution, and for American principles, while simultaneously standing for socialism. He can’t condemn individualism and embrace collectivism and at the same time uphold the ideals of American liberty; of American Exceptionalism — which is to say, of the concept of individual rights coming from God. He can’t bridge that divide because it’s an unbridgeable abyss.
Socialism, communism, Marxism, collectivism cannot coexist with capitalism, a democratic-republic, a Constitution that limits government and individualism.
So Mamdani really has no business speaking at all in any role as a public servant. He doesn’t belong there.
Yet speak he does.
On social media, just after Trump announced the joint U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, Mamdani condemned them as a “catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.” He then wrote, “Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace.”
Oh, really, Mr. Mayor?
Then he took to News 12 and told host Heather Fordham in an interview and rather than backtrack, rather than apologize for lying about Trump’s attacks by calling it an “illegal” engagement, despite the fact the strikes are completely legal, under the War Powers Act, and rather than humbly acknowledging he doesn’t speak for the entire country, Mamdani said this: “I may be a young mayor, but I’m old enough to remember the devastating consequences of our country pursuing regime change in that very region. I know that what Americans want at this moment is peace. They want an answer to the affordability crisis. They do not want to see the bombing of cities, the killing of civilians, the opening of yet another theater of war.”
Actually, most Americans would like an Iran that didn’t scream madly across the global airwaves, “Death to Israel, death to America, death to the West.” Most Americans would like an Iranian regime that didn’t attack, murder, terrorize U.S. citizens at spots around the world for the last 40-plus years, with very little consequence. Most Americans would like Iran to not just sign a nuclear deal, pledging to never develop nuclear weapons, but actually abide by the terms of the agreement the regime signs.
Most Iranians would like a ruling and governing class that didn’t mow down citizens in the street for the crime of protesting.
Most Israelis would like an Iran that didn’t fund a total terror wipe-out of Jews from the face of the earth.
Most Americans, Israeli, and peaceful citizens around the world, to include residents of Mamdani’s own Big Apple city, would prefer to have an Iran that wasn’t sponsoring acts of terror against all those deemed infidels and evil ones — meaning, all those who didn’t get in line with Shariah teachings.
Of course, Mamdani is entitled to his own opinion about the war against Iran and the reasons America has struck. But he’s not entitled to his own set of facts — or his dismissal of facts about the terror ties and tendencies of the Iranian regime. And he’s certainly not entitled to speak for all of America.
A good socialist is a silent socialist. A better socialist is one that recognizes no right to serve in public office in America. And the best socialists of all are the ones who leave America and never return.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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