Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), a average Democrat, mentioned President Trump and Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani “tapped into the identical factor” that catapulted their respective underdog campaigns to victory.
In an interview on CBS Information’s “Face the Nation,” Suozzi famous that each Trump and Mamdani, a democratic socialist who formally clinched the New York Metropolis mayoral nomination final week, centered their campaigns on affordability.
“I disagree with Mr. Mamdani. I’ve to make that very clear that, , I am a democratic capitalist. I am not a democratic socialist,” Suozzi mentioned.
“However it’s important to acknowledge that he tapped into one thing,” he continued. “He tapped into the identical factor that Donald Trump tapped into, which is that persons are involved that the financial system shouldn’t be working for them. Affordability and the financial system is the primary challenge within the nation.”
Suozzi mentioned “too typically,” folks understand Democrats as prioritizing reproductive rights and LGBTQ protections over points associated to financial mobility and affordability.
The previous two points are “necessary points,” Suozzi continued, “however they don’t seem to be the problems that individuals take into consideration each night time once they’re mendacity in mattress fascinated by paying their payments or once they’re speaking about how they will ship their youngsters to highschool.”
Suozzi mentioned Democrats can study from Trump’s and Mamdani’s diagnoses of the issue — even when not their proposed options.
“Democrats have gotten to do a greater job studying from each Trump and Mamdani, not with their options, which I feel are flawed, however with the analysis of the issue — that we’re annoyed, we’re involved.”
“Everyone in America — whether or not you are a right-wing conservative or a left-wing progressive — ought to consider that, in return for working exhausting, you make sufficient cash so you may dwell an excellent life. You should purchase a house, you may educate your kids, you may pay in your medical insurance, you may retire someday with out being scared,” Suozzi mentioned.
“Individuals do not feel that at present, and we have now to do a greater job of speaking that,” he added.