Mamdani win will be 'bad hangover' for Democrats: Hewitt

Conservative pundit and radio host Hugh Hewitt warned that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) will become a “bad hangover” for the Democratic Party.

In an interview with Fox News’s Jesse Watters on Tuesday, shortly before the mayoral race was called for Mamdani, Hewitt predicted the young state Assembly member would govern the city poorly and damage the Democratic brand.

“I think the silver lining for Republicans — it’s going to be a bad night, the tides of politics run against the party that’s in power in the off year, and this goes back decades, so it’s going to be a bad night for Republicans — but it’s going to be a bad hangover for Democrats,” Hewitt told Watters.

“Because Comrade Mamdani is not just a communist, he’s an antisemitic communist, and he is going to cause international incidents,” he continued.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who won the Democratic Party’s nomination this summer, has been falsely labeled a communist by some of his critics, including by President Trump.

He’s also been called an antisemite, amid heightened concerns among Jewish New Yorkers about his sharp criticism of Israel and its war in Gaza. Mamdani has sought to assuage those concerns through outreach to segments of the Jewish community.

Hewitt argued the 34-year-old’s limited professional experience is not conducive to running a city with hundreds of thousands of employees.

“He doesn’t know how to run anything,” Hewitt said. “I keep making this point to people, he’s run at most an office of 10 people; 300,000 people work for the city of New York.”

Hewitt predicted a Mamdani administration portends “disaster” for the Democratic brand.

“So I’m telling you, it’s a disaster that’s going to unfold in real time, if he pulls it out tonight,” Hewitt said. “I did everything I could to persuade my audience to vote for Andrew Cuomo, as did President Trump, because I really think it’s not good for the country — but it’s horrible for the Democratic Party that he’s their new brand.”