Roots Action

06/30/2025

In any case, a key context of the upcoming election battle is that hell hath no fury like corporate power scorned.

A social-media screed by hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman (net worth: upward of $9 billion) was damn near apoplectic that activists and voters had so terribly transgressed. Ackman described himself as “a supporter of President Trump” while expressing a fervent desire “to save the Democratic Party from itself.” Mamdani’s policies, Ackman wrote late Wednesday night, “would be disastrous for NYC. Socialism has no place in the economic capital of our country.”

But Ackman held out hope that those owning the city of New York could continue to govern it: “Importantly, there are hundreds of million of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight … so that a great alternative candidate won’t spend any time raising funds. So, if the right candidate would raise his or her hand tomorrow, the funds will pour in. I am sure that Mike Bloomberg will share his how-to-win-the-mayoralty IP [intellectual property] and deliver his entire election apparatus and system to the aspiring candidate so that the candidate can focus all of his or her energy on the campaign.”

Another aggrieved hedge-fund multibillionaire, Daniel Loeb, opted to be concise: “It’s officially hot commie summer.” Many other moguls have also sounded alarms. But beneath all the froth and bombast, extremely wealthy individuals are busy gauging how to prevail against the threat of democracy and social justice.

In the Empire State, there are many ways for the empire to strike back. The constellation of forces now regrouping with a vengeance includes titans of Wall Street, enormous real estate interests, pro-Israel groups, corporate media, the anti-progressive rich and assorted smear artists.

In recent weeks, the completely false charge of antisemitism has escalated against Mamdani. He has taken a principled and consistent stand on behalf of human rights for all – in the process, denouncing Israel’s war on Palestinian civilians in Gaza – while at the same time opposing rapacious corporate power. So, it’s no surprise that New York’s most powerful Democrat, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, has been dodging the question of whether he’ll endorse Mamdani in the general election.

For decades, Schumer’s campaign coffers have bulged while he has been hugely compensatedby Wall Street. He has also remained a staunch supporter of Israel, despite its systematic ethnic cleaning and genocide against Palestinian people. A few months ago, Schumer declared: “My job is to keep the left pro-Israel.”