Mamdani Rallies Progressive Base With Bernie Sanders At Fighting Oligarchy Tour

By Katie Honan, The City

September 8, 2025

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani urged supporters to join them and volunteer in the final weeks of the general election at an event Saturday, the latest stop on the senator’s national Fighting Oligarchy tour.

The event was held at Brooklyn College, where Sanders, a borough native, attended school for a year before transferring to the University of Chicago.

The pair of legislators, both democratic socialists, praised one another to cheers from the thousands of people inside.

Mamdani said Sanders’ 2016 presidential run “gave me the language of democratic socialism to describe my politics.”

He attended the senator’s rally at Queensbridge Park with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019, when he ran for, and won, a seat in the state Assembly.

“As I ran for state assembly, for the many months beyond that, we continued to look to him and his campaign and his vision as the compass for the work that we wanted to do,” Mamdani said.

Sanders commended Mamdani’s upset of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June primary by 13 percentage points.

“This guy started at 2% in the polls and blew away the opposition,” he said.

“And what was most extraordinary about the primary campaign and the campaign he’s right now — it’s not ugly 30-second ads. It is a grassroots movement.”

Sanders discussed the mayor’s race, both in terms of President Donald Trump’s apparent efforts to clear the field for Cuomo and the push by some of the wealthiest New Yorkers to stop Mamdani’s surge.

“What are these oligarchs afraid of?,” Sanders asked, then shared a message to those looking to stop Mamdani: “To hell with you, we’re going to take you on.”

Mamdani currently leads in the polls, gaining much of the labor and political support that had initially backed Cuomo in the primary.

In recent weeks, Trump has discussed the idea of some of the candidates – including Mayor Eric Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa, or Andrew Cuomo – dropping out to make it a one-on-one matchup to defeat Mamdani.

Adams has shot down multiple reports that he was in discussion to take a job in the federal government as a way to leave the race. He vehemently denied it again on Friday outside Gracie Mansion, even as calls from some of the wealthiest and most powerful New Yorkers called for him to drop out.

“This is the city where we will choose our own mayor,” Mamdani said. “It’s not going to be Donald Trump, it’s not going to be Bill Ackman, it’s not going to be DoorDash.”

Attendees included Brooklyn College students and faculty, including freshman Ahmed Razaq, who cast his first vote ever for Mamdani in the June primary.

“He’s going to be great for the city,” he said. “He’s going to do a lot for things the city needs like affordable housing.”

Lucy Blum, 21, came with friends and her 16-year-old cousin, Lou Wallach, who all live in Brooklyn and waited outside on the wait list.

“We need some hope right now. It’s sad, hard times,” Blum, who just graduated from college and is looking for freelance film jobs, said.

Although Wallach isn’t old enough to vote, she’s been closely following the mayor’s race.

“I really hope Zohran gets it. He’s a figure that we need right now, and someone who I actually believe could create change in New York and inspire other states to do the same,” she said.

Jaylynn McCurdy, 22, said she felt “invigorated” by Sanders and Mamdani’s message.

“As young people, it’s really important that we get involved.”

The aspiring doctor born and raised in Brooklyn said she voted for Mayor Eric Adams in 2021 – but wouldn’t again. He “disappointed so many Black people” like herself. She plans to vote for Mamdani, she said.

“You want to support your own people, and you think that they’re for you, you think that they’re progressive, but then they get there, and they’re corrupt,” she said. “They want to serve the people that are putting money in their pockets.”

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.