Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s stunning primary win has turned her into the “therapist in chief” — as she sought to quell furor over the socialist’s radical “Tax the rich” plan.
The governor, who has yet to endorse Mamdani after his mayoral win set off a political earthquake within the Democratic Party, signaled she planned to block his push to hikes taxes for Big Apple millionaires and large corporations, if he’s elected.
Gov. Kathy Hochul says Zohran Mamdani’s shocking NYC mayoral primary win has turned her into New York’s “therapist in chief.” MSNBC“I’ve spoken to hundreds of business leaders saying, ‘Listen, nothing is going to happen to this city without me being aware of it and involved in it.’ So don’t talk about packing up and leaving and all these other overreactions,” Hochul told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday.
“I’ve become the therapist in chief, it seems. So I’m saying to everybody, ‘We’re going be okay.’ Maybe it’s the mom in me. I know how to calm down situations and we’ll get through this.”
Hochul also suggested she will block the Democratic socialist’s divisive “Tax the rich” plan. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post“Don’t panic, everybody. Let the process play out, let the voters decide and then we’ll deal with it,” she added.
Mamdani has stoked widespread outcry with his promise to raise taxes for the city’s ultra-wealthy, as well as his slew of anti-Israel comments on the campaign trail — including his refusal to condemn the “Globalize the intifada” rallying cry.
Hochul said she raised the two issues directly with Mamdani when they spoke recently.
In addition to reassuring the business community, the governor said Mamdani’s number one job was “healing” his relationship with Jewish New Yorkers.
“I said, ‘You have a lot of healing to do with the Jewish community. Many of your words have been hurtful and hateful to people and their interpretation of it,'” she said.
“So job number one is to straighten that relationship out if you can and to get them to understand that if you become the mayor, we don’t know the outcome, but if you become a mayor that you’ll be a mayor for everyone and no one should have to [worry] about being in a city and feeling less safe because of who the mayor is and their religious beliefs.”
Hochul has already publicly slammed Mamdani’s tax plan in the wake of last month’s shock win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
“I’m focused on affordability and raising taxes on anyone does not accomplish that,” she insisted after Mamdani secured the party’s nomination.
“I’m making sure that people who create jobs will stay here so that we can have good-paying jobs.”
The Democratic governor congratulated Mamdani after his win, but notably didn’t endorse him in November’s general election, where he’ll face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden.
