Ted Cruz is warning Republicans that Zohran Mamdani’s political rise won’t stop at New York City mayor.
The Texas senator argued this week that the New York mayor has become the force driving Democrats, predicting on Fox News that Mamdani will eventually take Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez moves toward a presidential run.
Cruz widened the attack Thursday on X before laying out the forecast on television.
“I may disagree with Democrats on taxes and regulations, but this country needs two parties that actually love America,” Cruz wrote.
New Hampshire polling put Ocasio-Cortez among the top names in the Democratic presidential conversation, and Cruz treated that as a warning sign rather than a curiosity.
My prediction: AOC will run for president, and Zohran Mamdani will replace Chuck Schumer in the Senate.
Some Republicans are cheering that our opponents are crazy. I’m not.
This is bad for America. I may disagree with Democrats on taxes and regulations, but this country needs… pic.twitter.com/AW0gAv8V75
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 23, 2026
“She’s the number one Democratic candidate in the country in New Hampshire,” Cruz said on Fox News.
Then he put Mamdani at the center of the party’s future. “My prediction is comrade Mamdani will be the next Democrat senator from New York, that Mamdani will replace Schumer,” Cruz said.
Cruz called Mamdani “the single most powerful Democrat in the country.”
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He also cautioned his own side against celebrating the rise of Democrats he described as radicals.
“There are some Republicans that are celebrating,” Cruz said. “I wanna say for the record: I’m not celebrating. I think this is bad for the country.”
Cruz framed the issue as a national problem, not just a New York power fight.
“I want to see two normal parties that are not filled with crazy people who can actually do something reasonable and who actually love the country,” he said.
The senator’s criticism then turned directly toward the left-wing Democrats he believes are shaping the party.
“These communist radicals — they not only don’t love America, they hate America. If you’re a small business owner, they hate you. If you’re a Christian, they hate you. If you’re a Jew, they hate you. That is dangerous,“ Cruz said.
For Cruz, the risk is what happens when Democrats return to power under that influence.
“I think it’s really dangerous if the Democrat who gets back in power — and I hope that’s not for a very long time — it’s dangerous if that Democrat is an open communist who aspires to be Mao or Stalin or Fidel Castro,“ Cruz said. ”These are the people driving today’s Democrat Party.”
Mamdani has given Republicans fresh material through his own tax push.
On X, the mayor turned notification letters for New York’s new pied-à-terre tax into a message for second-home owners with expensive city properties.
“If you have a second home in New York City worth more than $5 million, check your mailbox when you’re back in the five boroughs — because you’ve got mail,” Mamdani posted.
The letters were for the Hochul-backed surcharge Mamdani supported.
“Today, we sent notification letters to property owners, letting them know that our new pied-à-terre tax is coming soon,” Mamdani continued.
“The best city in the world deserves the best parks, libraries, and schools in the world. That’s only possible when we all pay our fair share. ”
Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled the joint legislative proposal in April for luxury second homes worth $5 million or more.
The annual surcharge is expected to bring in an estimated $500 million from affluent out-of-state property owners.
Mamdani has previously pointed to free childcare, cleaner streets and safer neighborhoods as places the revenue could go.
Republicans warned that the tax would keep pushing wealthy New Yorkers toward the exits.
“Never elect a politician who: (1) sees your money as his slush fund, (2) loves Karl Marx, or (3) uses French words like ‘pied-à-terre’ to disguise new, confiscatory taxes he wants to impose to redistribute wealth,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, tweeted.
Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., needed fewer words to make the same point.
“Socialism – Florida’s best real estate agent,” Moody posted.
The most serious backlash came after Thursday’s Upper West Side stabbings, which are being investigated as potential hate crimes.
Both victims were stable after the Manhattan attack, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. Officials identified the suspect as Raul Morales, 51, and accused him of yelling “Allahu Akbar” while stabbing two men Thursday afternoon.
Eric Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, connected the fear on the streets to Mamdani’s repeated attacks on Israel.
“When the mayor of New York repeatedly uses his platform to relentlessly single out and demonize Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, and calls those who support it monsters, he contributes to a climate in which Jewish New Yorkers are increasingly targeted and unsafe,” Goldstein said Friday.
Goldstein’s statement then turned into a direct demand.
“Mayor Mamdani, stop fanning the flames of hatred and division. The consequences are not abstract. They are playing out on our streets. But make no mistake, we’re not going anywhere,” he added.
“The Jewish community of New York, the largest in the world outside Israel, will continue to walk the streets of the Upper West Side and all the streets of New York openly and proudly,” he concluded.
Mamdani answered the criticism Friday on by insisting the city would not tolerate antisemitism.
“There’s no tolerance for antisemitism or hatred of any kind in this city,” Mamdani stated.
He separated his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from religion or Jewish identity.
“When it comes to my comments about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they are critiques not based on my personal analysis but rather on objective facts,” he said.
“They are critiques of a political leader not of people of a specific faith or a religion or a background and my responsibility as the mayor of this city is to keep every New Yorker safe, no matter where they come from, what they believe in, or frankly, even if they agree with my politics. My job is to keep them safe.”
Mamdani has also publicly embraced Ocasio-Cortez, calling her an “inspiration” last week.
“I’m excited to continue to work together because for a long time, politics has been understood as if it is about individuals and what’s so exciting is at the heart of that partnership is the belief in collective,” he said.
When asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s future, Mamdani left the door wide open.
“I think that she would make a good anything. I think she’s a great congresswoman, and I think no matter what she decides to do, she’s going to bring those same qualities to whatever that work is.”
