Top responses to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's inaugural address: 'Godless, rancid ideology'

GOP leaders

The official X account of the House Republicans wrote that "New York City has officially fallen to a radical communist agenda" and that Mamdani "is openly declaring war on the self-reliance and grit that made our country great."

"If 'rugged individualism' is the enemy, then freedom is dead. Communism has to be defeated before there's nothing left to save," they added.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., who serves as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, warned "Zohran Mamdani is a dangerous communist who is likely to DESTROY NYC through his dedication to communist ideology.

"Let's be clear: COMMUNISM HAS FAILED everywhere it has been tried. NYC will be no different."

"The 'warmth' of collectivism that always requires coercion and force. How many dead over the past 100 years due to collectivist ideologies?" asked Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., who represents Staten Island in Congress, warned that "New Yorkers are in for a rude awakening."

Jon Hartley, an economist and Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, noted that "collectivism" has been seen as a negative word for generations within American politics.

"First time a prominent elected American politician has used the word 'collectivism' [with] a positive framing in maybe a century," he said. "'Collectivism' (principle of giving a group priority over individuals) was a pejorative term in the 20th century often used by [former Sen. Barry] Goldwater, Reagan & Bush 41."