NEW YORK − On the heels of a resounding rejection in the Nov. 4 elections, Republicans have found a silver lining: a new Democratic bogeyman in New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist is being invoked by national Republican leaders, even on seemingly unrelated subjects, such as the just-ended federal government shutdown.

In a press conference after the House of Representatives voted to reopen the government on Nov. 12, House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed the shutdown on Democratic dysfunction, which he tied to Mamdani.

"There's a reason the Democrats are in disarray right now... They don't have a leader, except for Mamdani, who's the new mayor of New York City and leading the party into Marxism and socialism," Johnson said.

It is unusual for a state assemblyman to be labeled the leader of a national party. But congressional Republicans have been talking about Mamdani since even before he won the mayoral election.

On Oct. 29, Johnson and House Majority Leader Steven Scalise said Democrats had shut down the government over health care funding because of Mamdani's influence. Mamdani never called for the shutdown.

Trump calls Mamdani 'a communist'

President Donald Trump also brought up Mamdani in his remarks upon signing the bill reopening the government.

"They really went out and they could appease the fringe (elements) of their far-left base, but that didn't work out because their far-left base is angrier than ever before," Trump said.

"We actually elected a mayor of New York City who happens to be a communist, when was that ever going to happen?" the president continued, referring to Mamdani. "Remember, I said all the time during my campaign, 'we will never be a socialist country.' And that's right: we turned out to have a communist in New York City. And if you look at his views, those are the views of a communist, not a socialist."

Mamdani is a democratic socialist, meaning he believes the economy should be democratically run for the benefit of the public, whereas communism is an authoritarian system in which the workers seize control of the economy through revolution. (Marxism, which Johnson accused Mamdani of, is the theoretical framework for communism.)

Mamdani's platform includes providing free universal childcare and free buses, paid for by a 2% tax increase on New Yorkers making more than $1 million per year.

Trump endorsed Mamdani's opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He frequently inveighs against Mamdani and has said he will deny his former hometown funds as punishment for his election.

A foil for Republicans and Democrats know it

Congressional Democrats who refused to endorse Mamdani would disagree with the claim that he is leading the party. That includes New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn resident who refused to say who he had voted for in the mayoral election.

But with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi retiring and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries being a less controversial figure, Mamdani makes for a convenient foil for Republicans.

On Oct. 28, the National Republican Congressional Committee issued a strategy memo describing their plans to "Make Mamdani and his policies the face of the Democratic Party," in the 2026 elections. The memo notes that their polling shows only 25% of swing-district voters view Mamdani favorably, with 41% holding an unfavorable impression.

Whether more moderate candidates can effectively be tarred with Mamdani's agenda remains to be seen. On the same day Mamdani won, centrist Democratic Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill were elected by wide margins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Forget Schumer and Pelosi. Zohran Mamdani is Republicans' new foil.

Reporting by Ben Adler, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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