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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYC Mayor Candidate Mamdani Says He's 'Not Defunding the Police'
"Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist leading the race for New York mayor, tried to distance himself from past criticism of the NYPD, two days after a mass shooting at a midtown office building left five people dead, including a police officer.
Mamdani, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday after returning from a 10-day trip to Uganda, described some past social media posts criticizing the New York Police Department as out of step with his current thinking.
Im not defunding the police, Mamdani said. Im not running to defund the police.
The attack, the deadliest mass shooting in the city in more than 25 years, horrified New Yorkers and reframed attention on Mamdanis past statements about the police force, less than four months before he competes in the general election as the Democratic nominee."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-30/nyc-mayor-candidate-mamdani-says-he-s-not-defunding-the-police

PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)Celerity
(51,161 posts)PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)Celerity
(51,161 posts)stances on the issues are logical and solid.
Mamdani is now the Democratic NYC mayoral candidate for the general.
As the saying goes, vote blue no matter who.
TnDem
(1,163 posts)and donated to Democratic campaigns for decades....How'd that work out for us?
Celerity
(51,161 posts)
TnDem
(1,163 posts)Mamdani said "Defund the police" on multiple occasions, and now he supposedly changed his mind...Like a literal Damascus road change of mind....Trump voted for and supported Democrats for decades and now look at him.
Pay attention to what they did, not what they say later to obfuscate the truth...Trump gave many hints as to his authoritarian nature, but nobody listened.
Celerity
(51,161 posts)
Dave says
(5,196 posts)It would have worked wonderfully if more people followed that in 2016 and again in 2024.
But, no, her emails; and, no, Bidens support of Israel while Gaza was being bombed out of existence. So, in part due to those not heeding those words, and despite Biden not even running, we have a tsunami of destructive fascists in office for who knows how long.
Do these same anti-Blue voters in 2024 cast equal or greater blame on Trump? Betcha theyre not as active as their activism last year.
(TnDem, this is not aimed at you, but at all the Democrats who pulled the red lever or stayed home.)
TnDem
(1,163 posts)That would go down 10 rabbit trails and pull the thread in various directions... I can just give you my anecdotal perspective as a rural Democrat.
Simply put, people vote for candidates who they like and trust to do what they want accomplished. For whatever reason, more people liked and trusted trump than they did Kamala...Obviously, I disagree with their reasoning, but Kamala didn't appeal to the black voters because she was part and parcel to incarcerating them while in CA...They didn't trust her because of her past actions.
Getting back to the point of the thread, you can't adamantly say "Defund the Police" multiple times on a digital format and then claim later the exact opposite stance with no explanation....Voters don't trust that.
Also, why run from the statement if you believe it?...That reeks of wet finger-in-the-air politics... Just say it and stand by it.
Polybius
(20,607 posts)He still posts there, it's not like he lost his password.
Celerity
(51,161 posts)All this 'concern' all over this thread is duly noted.
Polybius
(20,607 posts)If he really changed his stance, why not delete it? I would delete something that I changed my opinion on, otherwise people will still think those are still my views.
Just_Vote_Dem
(3,319 posts)I think deleting it can give the impression that you're trying to hide something. Best to own up to it and say that your views have changed on the subject. I think that shows intellectual growth and is not a negative. The person could also retweet it and say their views have changed.
Saved me from posting it.
I have never figured out why people do shit like this and are then surprised when someone digs it out and shoves it in their face.
If you don't mean something, don't say it.
PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)Greg_In_SF
(422 posts)voted for it and campaigned on it.
PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)Greg_In_SF
(422 posts)about defunding the police as recently as December.
PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)Greg_In_SF
(422 posts)on his Bluesky account on December 19.
PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)The Strategic Response Group, as I understand it, responds to terrorist events similar to what happened there. If you call for them to be disbanded, you've got to offer citizens some alternative in the event of a terrorist event.
Polybius
(20,607 posts)That and the middle finger to the statue of Columbus.
Nanjeanne
(6,313 posts)wants to do can easily read his 2025 detailed plan which is nothing like defund the police. It's a much better way of understanding what his policy is --- even better than a tweet! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a7ejjSZWWIAcxfcWnkYaqvnjihTb0LAOQkj8g10-npg/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0#heading=h.2gazcsgmxkub]
I'm amazed how frightened people are of this amazing candidate for Mayor that they dig up old five year old tweets as if that's a "policy" rather than -- I don't know -- read the policy from 2025 that he is running on.
TnDem
(1,163 posts)It's called pandering.
Politicub
(12,315 posts)What are your thoughts about that?
TnDem
(1,163 posts)It's kind of a simple concept in life really....Say what you mean and stick with it.
When I have to have a paragraphs long "policy proposal" to counteract truthful mouth diarrhea that I myself made , then maybe I should stick with the statement I originally made and believe in?
Celerity
(51,161 posts)If it's Mamdani, the Democratic candidate, then why are you slagging him off up and down this thread? It is very sus.
TnDem
(1,163 posts)Someone like that could never win a national election.
Celerity
(51,161 posts)My point is that the negative stances you are trying to flame up Mamdani with are definitely not the actions, IMHO, of a person who supports the Democratic candidate in the general.
TnDem
(1,163 posts)Because you live in this bubble...Every Democrat in this country isn't exactly like you...A rural Democrat like myself, has a broader view of the party in general and how to win national elections, and Mamdani ain't it beyond the boroughs of NYC.
I don't know your age, but i could almost guarantee you that I and my friends and neighbors have been voting Democratic as long or longer than you have,
Celerity
(51,161 posts)that 'every Democrat is like me'. You are pushing an entirely false framing with that one.
You also keep trying to push this trope of Mamdani as a national candidate and falsely attribute it to being a belief I am advocating for. I never said that, I do not think he can win nationally.
What I do advocate for is supporting the Democratic candidate (Mamdani) in the general election for NEW YORK CITY mayor.
Your multiple postings here taking swipes at him are not something, IMHO, that a supporter of the Democratic primary winner and now the Democratic candidate in the general (Mamdani) would do. You are attempting to introduce FUD, which is absolutely NOT advantageous to us (the Democratic Party) winning the upcoming general election. Like I already said before, it is sus.
Furthermore, you even admitted that you did not read his actual policy proposals, yet you still have a go over it using a problematic framing of his stances, one that contains little to no knowledge (again, you self-admitted that) of his actual platform and proposals.
Finally, I truly take issue with this:
Just because you live in a rural area in no way automatically gives you a broader view on anything, let alone our Party or how to win national elections (which again is something you keep trying to inject into the conversation when that is not germane to any of my statements).
The entire construct of rural America having a superior view and superior knowledge of things simply because it is rural is problematic at so many levels. From what I see, rural America is now utterly, on balance, dominated by Maga and the Rethugs.
I think changing THAT is far more important for rural Democrats than taking swipes at the Democratic general election candidate in a decidedly non-rural (arguably the most non-rural in the nation) environment (ie NYC).
TnDem
(1,163 posts)Does that mean "suspect"?... Suspect of what? Because we don't agree on his national viability because of obvious flip-flops on Mamdani's part?
I worked on a Democratic State Senator's campaign 35 years ago, so I have been around a minute. I also grew up as a kid in Suburban DC/ PG County, so I am not from the hills either. I just know how certain portions of the party think that everybody locksteps with them and they don't.
Go back and read the thread too...I am not the only person bringing up his flip-flops on defunding the police. There were other posters saying the same thing multiple times...Are they "sus" too?
Glad to see that you agree that he can't win a national election. I also don't think he will have any problem winning NYC mayor's position either...Two different worlds.
AZProgressive
(29,704 posts)He probably still supports reallocating funds part but mainly reorganizing in away from mental health calls or failures of the capitalist system such as homeless and using the police to deal with the issue. He wants police to focus on serious crimes rather than like a "broken windows" kind of policing which I also support. He wants to increase funding to deal with hate crimes by 800% IIRC.
Those against it have to own the current problems such as the discrimination, unconstitutional policing, and doing things like police killing someone on a welfare check. I think there are better ways to deal with problems instead of sending the cops at every problem.
brush
(60,756 posts)Should've just said he was a Democrat...oops, wait, there is a thing as oppo reseach so he's stuck with his past statments. Politics can be tricky.
PeaceWave
(1,850 posts)brush
(60,756 posts)Nanjeanne
(6,313 posts)Mamdani: I would say that for the former governor to have spent an entire day speaking almost exclusively about me and barely about the New Yorkers who have been killed is indicative of the very politics New Yorkers want to leave in the past.
— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2025-07-30T18:47:17.246Z
vanessa_ca
(385 posts)I hope he pisses away a ton of money financing an absolute clown car of candidates trying to stop Mamdani. Zohran will skillfully wipe the floor with all of them. The people have his back. He beat out all NYC mayoral candidates combined. Its almost like most New Yorkers are Democrats who will support the candidate that Democratic Party voters selected to run for mayor. Funny how that works.
SickOfTheOnePct
(8,220 posts)I dont think there is any question about that. The question is how many of the super rich and big businesses will leave NYC for what they view as friendlier places.