Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️
We have a stage five political freakout on our hands.
In the four days since Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani became the Democratic Party’s nominee in the New York City mayoral election, a lot of people have completely lost it. The reactions have ranged from predictable to deeply disturbing Islamophobia.
Some of the reaction to Mamdani stems from the fact the 33-year-old relatively junior lawmaker entered the race as an upstart before defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which puts him firmly on the left wing of the city and state Democratic Party spectrum. That helps explain why congressional leadership didn’t rush to embrace Mamdani and why the powerful real estate industry — which has enjoyed developer-friendly “City of Yes” policies backed by the current mayor, Eric Adams, and other Democrats — entered into what the Wall Street Journal described as “hysteria.”
Progressives are notably more critical of the Israeli government than establishment Democrats and Mamdani has a history of pro-Palestine activism. These policy differences have helped contribute to what veteran strategist Lis Smith dubbed a “full-on freakout” about Mamdani from the Democratic establishment. And, while Jewish voters are increasingly divided on Israel’s War in Gaza (and around 20 percent were supportive of Mamdani) the Republican Jewish Coalition declared “Evacuate NYC immediately” as the votes were coming in.
Other reactions included the billionaire Bill Ackman, who made a last-ditch attempt to find a candidate to save him before realizing that the rules mean there’s no room for a new dark horse on the ballot. Ackman ultimately decided to back Adams, who, after scandals, legal trouble, and a save from President Trump, is running as an independent in November’s general election. Another Influential Rich Person in New York City politics, hedge funder Dan Loeb, seemed to use a 1980’s movie reference to suggest the five boroughs have become a crime-filled hellscape where he will be forced to fight for his life. Others on the center, in business, and on the right seem set to throw their hats in with Cuomo, who has indicated he is going to keep hope alive and run it back as an independent.
Outside the city, Trump turned to — where else — Truth Social to blast Mamdani as a “a 100% Communist Lunatic.” As is her custom, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) went the even-more-apoplectic route with a seemingly AI-generated rendition of the Statue of Liberty covered in a mourning shroud.
Some of the meltdown seemed more about the fact Mamdani could become New York’s first Muslim mayor than any of his policies. Following his victory, Mamdani faced what the Guardian called a “barrage” from some who baselessly painted him as a terrorist threat. The most unhinged and purely racist attack of them all came from Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), a right-wing lawmaker whose own colorful history has included ethical questions, parading with faux Confederate soldiers, and calling for Trump to have a third term. On Thursday, Ogles fired off a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi calling for Mamdani to be denaturalized and “DEPORTED.”
The DOJ confirmed receipt of the letter to TPM but declined to comment further. Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Ogles’ letter relied on Mamdani’s past critiques of Israeli policy to brand the mayoral candidate “an antisemitic, socialist, communist.” Mamdani has previously emphasized that he abhors antisemitism. Opting for a megaphone rather than a dog whistle, Ogles also called Mamdani “little muhammad” in his X post about the letter. It’s impossible to read that as anything other than an attempt to denigrate Mamdani’s religion. Ogles did not respond to a request for comment.
While Mamdani weathered these attacks, even some staunchly pro-Israel Democrats came to his defense. However, others, notably Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), tested the wheels on the bandwagon and took the opportunity to echo the idea Mamdani was a bridge too far.
There are now over four months to go until the general election, which is going to be a four- to five-way race. Mamdani is the obvious favorite, but it is clearly going to be quite chaotic.
Perhaps in some ways Dan Loeb and the other hysterics are right. New York is becoming a (political) warzone. Fight for your lives.
— Hunter Walker
Here’s what else TPM has on tap this weekend:
- The Supreme Court kept its tradition of ending its term with a series of blockbuster, and, in some cases, disastrous cases. The same nine justices will be back next year.
- Signs may be surfacing of a DOGE-linked disruption in DC’s economy.
- His the Senate parliamentarian become too woke?
See You Next Year, Sam Alito
The Supreme Court ended this term the same way it ended last term: with another consequential ceding of power from the judicial branch to the executive branch.
In a 6-3 decision Friday authored by Amy Coney Barrett, the court ruled that national injunctions, of the sort that are currently holding many of Trump’s most lawless policies at bay, need to be more closely tailored to providing relief to the plaintiffs in a given suit. Judges cannot just shut down a policy nationwide, the conservative majority ruled. They must suspend it only for those involved in the case before them. (It is perhaps notable that this ruling comes now, and not when conservative lower-court judges used national injunctions to sideline policies throughout the Biden administration.)
The upshot of this decision is that the executive branch will have yet more room to behave in illegal ways, unchecked. And the decision acknowledged as much: “Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them,” Barrett wrote. “When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”
In this way, Friday’s decision was similar to 2024’s disastrous immunity decision, exempting the president almost entirely from criminal prosecution. As in the immunity decision, the justices punted the underlying issue to lower courts to figure out the details of how to apply their ruling. Last year, that underlying issue was Donald Trump’s criminal prosecution for trying to steal the 2020 election; this year, it was his attempt to end birthright citizenship. Both decisions suggested that it would be years before the Supreme Court would actually address the case on the merits.
This consequential non-ruling on birthright citizenship was not the only momentous decision to come down Friday. In another case, Justice Sam Alito wrote for the majority that parents can challenge “LGBTQ+-inclusive” texts in schools, and let their children opt out of lessons to which they object. Another ruling allowed porn sites to be effectively banned in Texas.
Notably, the Supreme Court term ended with no retirements, meaning the two oldest — and two most consistently pro-Trump — justices, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito, will be back again in October. Martha-Ann Alito, recorded last year by a hidden-camera-wielding activist, expressed her hope that her husband might soon step away from the “nonsense” of being among the most powerful people in the world so that she can fly her niche right-wing flag collection during Pride month without blowback. (“I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month […] I said, ‘When you are free of this nonsense, I’m putting it up.’”) Now she’ll have to wait until, at least, June 2026.
— John Light
DOGE Doldrums
There are signs the economic fallout from DOGE’s mass cuts to the federal government workforce are already beginning to take a toll on the D.C.-area economy, and maybe even beyond.
Home buying and selling, historically the key to accessing the American dream and building wealth, is showing signs of a slowdown. A Bright MLS survey found 40% of realtors in the DMV area report having deals impacted by the federal government’s workforce reductions, ideated by President Donald Trump and carried out by the richest man in the world who, per Trump, also “lost his mind” — Elon Musk.
All the while, new economic data continues to signal a weakening jobs market and stalled consumer spending. A Thursday Labor Department data drop showed the number of people claiming unemployment benefits reached its highest total since November 2021 while data from the Department of Commerce found consumer spending declined slightly in May.
Real estate experts said a better look at the potential hit on the housing market may come in the fall.
As with Trump’s tariffs’ impact on inflation, the effects of the yet-to-be-finalized, deeply unpopular reconciliation package, and any economic fallout from the U.S. bombing Iran, we’ll just have to wait and see.
— Layla A. Jones
Words of Wisdom
“The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens … THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP.”
That’s Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) or, as he likes to call himself (and encourages reporters to call him), Coach Tuberville, reacting to Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s decision to strike several Medicaid and health-related provisions out of the reconciliation bill, finding them to be non-compliant with the Byrd Rule.
As you can tell he is particularly mad in this instance because MacDonough nixed the provision that would cut federal funds to states that allow undocumented immigrants to get Medicaid.
This, of course, has been a major talking point for congressional Republicans as they have been bending over backwards to convince everyone that they are not cutting Medicaid except for the “waste, fraud and abuse.” The reality is undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for traditional Medicaid or Medicare benefits. Some states opt to provide health coverage to certain immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, but those programs do not use federal Medicaid dollars and come out of state’s own funds.
Still, according to Tuberville and other far-right Republicans who tried to sneak in that provision into their so-called “big beautiful” bill, access to healthcare for human beings is apparently too “WOKE.”
— Emine Yücel