Bessent Takes Aim At Mamdani: ‘A Young Man With A Lot Of Old Ideas’

While U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered some praise for New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, he didn’t hold back on the policies the young mayor-elect plans to implement in the Big Apple.   

Bessent, who was in the Oval Office last week during President Donald Trump’s meeting with Mamdani, noted that the ideas Mamdani championed have no record of success. 

“I can tell you my impression of the mayor-elect is he’s a young man with a lot of old ideas that have never worked,” Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday. “Point to one example where policies like his have led to anything other than a decline.” 

Bessent said on CNBC’s Squawk Box that he has respect for the campaign Mamdani ran. However, Bessent believes governing will test Mamdani in ways campaigning never did. “You’ve got to have some admiration for a candidate who ran a campaign the way he did. It was a great, great campaign,” The Treasury Secretary said. “But the practical everyday of keeping people safe, picking up the trash, making the subways run on time… we’ll see.” 

Bessent commended Trump for being open-minded and inviting Mamdani into the Oval Office. “[Mamdani] is clearly the leader of the Democratic Party now,” the Treasury Secretary concluded. 

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Mamdani has become the face of the Democratic Party’s ascendant socialist wing, even as top party leaders keep him at arm’s length. Bessent pointed out that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) never endorsed him and has not yet met with the socialist mayor-elect.

Schumer has said he has a good relationship with the NYC mayor-elect and believes Mamdani’s issue with affordability is “being stressed by Democrats across the country.” 

Bessent reiterated what he previously called the three main “drains” on affordability: “The three I’s: immigration, interest rates, and inflation.” According to Bessent, immigration pressures have eased as the Trump Administration has secured the border, interest rates have come down, and the administration is working to bring down inflation. 

On Tuesday, he suggested a “fourth I” has emerged. 

Bessent said the fourth drain on America’s affordability is “insanity on the Democratic side.” He pointed to last month’s government shutdown, triggered by a fight over extending Obamacare tax credits, and said that the country is now “on the eve” of another potential shutdown. Bessent said the last shutdown caused a “1.5% hit to GDP and $11 billion permanent hit.”