Those aren’t the bills they’re looking for.
Gov. Kathy Hochul bizarrely tried to run interference on the embarrassing “tax the rich” chants she was heckled with at Zohran Mamdani‘s rally — claiming Monday she thought it was a pro-Buffalo Bills chorus.
“I thought they were saying ‘Let’s go Bills,’” she said when pressed by a Post reporter over the anti-fat cat chant.
Zorhan Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul speak at the “New York Is Not For Sale” Rally Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock“I wasn’t sure… I heard some noise, I heard a lot of cheers. But later on it became clear to me, I know there is a passion for that.”
The Democratic governor’s awkward appearance Sunday at the “New York is Not For Sale” rally at Forest Hills stadium – which featured lefty superstars Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders drumming up support for Mamdani – highlighted an uncomfortable divide in the party.
Hochul held off on endorsing Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor for months after his stunning Democratic primary win, with her main sticking point being concerns about the democratic socialist’s tax-the-rich policies.
“I’m focused on affordability and raising taxes on anyone does not accomplish that,” she insisted after Mamdani secured the nomination in June.
Gov. Hochul claims she didn’t know what the crowd was chanting last night. Steven Vago/NY Post
A crowd of rally attendees seen at the NYC event on OCt. 26, 2025. Aristide EconomopoulosThe establishment Dem signaled she’d try to block a tax hike in Albany – the only way Mamdani, if elected, could actually carry through on his promise to raise taxes on corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
When Hochul finally endorsed Mamdani in September, she claimed to find common ground with him despite “disagreements.”
The pair since appeared together calling for universal childcare, a potentially $6 billion program that’s one of Mamdani’s key campaign planks.
Mamdani has maintained taxing the rich would be the easiest way to pay for it, but said recently he’s open to alternative funding proposals.
Hochul, for her part, contended the pair could scrounge up funds without raising taxes.
She only made veiled references to the “tax the rich” disagreement Monday morning after getting beat up over it by Mamdani’s base.
“There’s a lot of popular phrases out there,” Hochul said.
“As much as it’s fun to embrace this, I have to be the reality check to know what we can manage.”
A spokesperson for Hochul didn’t clarify if the governor was joking about hearing a “Let’s go Bills” chant.
But whether or not Hochul was trying to spin boos into “Boo-urns” or genuinely made a “Let’s Go Brandon”-esque mishearing, it appears the Bills were on her mind.
Hochul, a die-hard Bills fan who forked over $600 million in state funding for the team’s new stadium, spent Sunday at Murphy’s Bar – a Bills-friendly watering hole in Astoria, where Mamdani had reportedly addressed supporters after the final mayoral debate last week.
