Ex-Trump official warns NYC socialist mayoral candidate could bring Marxism

America’s most populous city — and perhaps its most famous — is days away from electing an identified socialist as its mayor. A former Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that the victory was for… Zahran Mamdani It could represent a shift towards Marxism in New York City.

“I could never fathom the idea of ​​having a Marxist leading my city, the crown jewel city of the United States, the world, the free world,” Gene Hamilton, co-founder and co-president of America First Legal, told Fox News Digital.

The hotly contested race for mayor of New York City has received national attention, as former Gov. Andrew Cuomonow running as an independent, Mamdani and Republican Curtis Sliwa face an all-out battle to govern the city.

Hamilton, who previously served as deputy White House counsel, noted that some polls have shown a split between American and foreign-born voters, with those from outside the country leaning more toward the young socialist. Hamilton said he sees this as evidence of long-standing failed immigration policies, as well as a shift away from encouraging assimilation and toward pushing integration.

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New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani accepts an endorsement from United Bodegas of America in the Bronx, New York City, on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. (Deirdre Heavy/Fox News Digital)

“One of the things we’ve seen over the last several decades is a focus among many social organizations, nonprofits and the government itself, on the concept of pushing integration, not assimilation. Assimilation has been treated like a dirty word,” Hamilton said, highlighting resistance against pressure on immigrants to adopt American culture.

The difference, he said, is that integration now means “we integrate you whatever your background is, whatever your political ideology is, and we’re just integrating you into society and everyone has to deal with that.”

While Hamilton acknowledges that immigration can create an appreciation for cultures, he emphasized that this does not mean that those coming to the United States can ignore the current culture they are moving into. He also stressed the importance of adherence Current immigration lawsArguing that enforcement is not just about border control, but about protecting American values.

“There are prohibitions, there are restrictions on admitting individuals for many, many reasons,” he told Fox News Digital. “You cannot accept someone into the United States who was a member of a totalitarian party or a communist party. There are people you cannot subjugate because they will engage in certain types of activity.”

People walk toward a polling site during early voting in the New York City mayoral election in Manhattan in New York City, October 27, 2025. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

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Hamilton added: “There’s an oath that every naturalized citizen has to take as part of becoming a citizen. They promise the United States government to abandon any existing foreign ties and obligations, and instead embrace this new American identity. And so all of this wraps together this devaluation of the American citizen, the American identity, the ideal American identity that has dominated perceptions around the world for decades and decades.”

When it comes to disagreement New York City raceHamilton said it shows the United States brought in “too many people” and failed to teach the importance of Western values, the American Constitution, and what the founders fought for. He said he believes the sacrifices of those who built the country “have been pushed aside toward this belief, this ideological suicide in some ways, that we can just bring in anyone from anywhere around the world.”

He said the belief that as long as immigrants “provide some sort of economic boost to the country of any kind — whether it’s an Uber driver, whether it’s a nuclear scientist — that we should just welcome them all equally, treat them all equally, and we’re all very rich because of it” defies “common sense.”

During last year’s presidential election, immigration took center stage as many saw the Biden administration’s handling of the border as a failure. This deeply affected the then Vice President kamala harris, Who was, at one point, appointed to be the country’s border czar.

A supporter of Zahran Mamdani meets at a launch party at Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

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Hamilton spoke about how the American people “categorically rejected the open borders mentality of the Biden administration,” adding that it went beyond rejecting open land borders as well as bringing in people from all over the world.

“Things take time. It takes years to turn things around, but now we’re dealing with the consequences of years of failure so far,” Hamilton said. “We have a real chance to fix it now. Donald Trump is fixing things at the national level. The people of New York still have a chance to fix this. But things are looking really bad.”

Hamilton also touched on the mentality that New York Republicans must have as they head to the polls. Although there is a Republican candidate in the race, there are those who believe that voting for Cuomo will hurt Mamdani, while voting for Sliwa will help him.

Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Zahran Mamdani in the mayoral debate. (Angelina Katsanis-Paul/Getty Images)

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“I think it’s really difficult,” Hamilton said. “In the end, I know a lot People like Sliwa. He seems like a great guy. I don’t know him personally. So you can stand proud and support voting on principle for a Republican. But at the end of the day, you also have to accept and acknowledge reality sometimes. “All it takes to ensure that you get a Marxist in office is a sensible decision to make, so if that means shrugging and voting for Cuomo, that’s a personal decision to make.”

Even with the national elections long over and the 2025 election just days away, there are those thinking about next year’s midterms and how a Mamdani victory could turn the tide.

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“I certainly think you’ll see Democratic Party “The protest around him and the energy behind his election as a way to try to mobilize votes in 2026 for their preferred candidates, to spread and accept this kind of Marxist message,” Hamilton said, adding that the potentially disastrous consequences of Mamdani’s policies may not be immediately apparent.

He added: “It may take time to see the consequences of his disastrous policies. New York may not be destroyed overnight.”