Billionaire Elon Musk warned in an interview that the policies of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, would cause a major decline in living standards.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" and acknowledged that Mamdani is the frontrunner in the mayoral race but said that his agenda, if implemented, would hurt New Yorkers' quality of life.
"Mamdani is a charismatic swindler," Musk said. "I mean you gotta hand it to him, like, he can light up a stage, but he has just been a swindler his entire life."
"If Mamdani's policies are put into place, especially at scale, it would be a catastrophic decline in living standards, not just for the rich, but for everyone. As has been the case with every socialist experiment," Musk added.
Mamdani, who is currently a member of the New York State Assembly, has campaigned on implementing a range of socialist policies if he wins the New York City mayoral race.
His platform calls for raising New York City's minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, along with raising the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey's 11.5% rate. Mamdani has also called for eliminating bus fares and creating a universal childcare policy.
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He has proposed building 200,000 new units of "permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes" over the next decade while also immediately freezing rents for tenants in rent-stabilized units.
Mamdani's platform also includes the creation of city-owned grocery stores that would operate on a rent-free basis without property tax liabilities, with the stores buying and selling goods at "wholesale prices" to give consumers a "public option" in the grocery store market.
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Mamdani defended his proposed tax hikes in an interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News' "The Story" last month.
"I've said time and time again that I believe these are the most straightforward ways that we can actually fund universal childcare, making buses fast and free, and I've said that the two clear ways to do so: raising personal income taxes on the top 1% by 2% and raising the corporate tax to match that of New Jersey's corporate tax of 11.5%," Mamdani said. "Now, if there are other ways to raise this money to fund this agenda, the most important thing is that we fund the agenda."
He also pushed back on the need to cut spending in other areas of the city's budget to fund his priorities.
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"I don't think we have to cut, I've spoken about raising taxes on the wealthiest. And frankly, this is an issue that we have here in New York City, and frankly, even across this country. When I've spoken to Trump voters right here in New York City – Hillside Avenue in Queens, Fordham Road in the Bronx – they've told me it was the cost of living that drove them to vote for Donald Trump," Mamdani said.
