Kathy Hochul’s Deserved Humiliation

With typical understatement, the New York Times described the reception the roughly 13,000 Zohran Mamdani supporters gave three “New York power brokers” on Sunday — the state’s Democratic assembly speaker, its Senate majority leader, and the governor, Kathy Hochul — as “tepid.” In Hochul’s case, the reaction from the crowd that gathered in Queens over the weekend was more provocative than the Times let on.

As the governor rattled off the prohibitively expensive list of public services they will enjoy when Mamdani establishes his earthly utopia, the crowd began to jeer. “Oh, you’re fired up, you’re fired up,” the governor paused as the crowd chanted “tax the rich!” Hochul forced a smile. “Alright,” she piped up, her patience visibly exhausted. “I can hear you.” But the chants didn’t stop. Fed up with the impertinent socialist mob, she barked, “You want to see Zohran or not?”

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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With typical understatement, the New York Times described the reception the roughly 13,000 Zohran Mamdani supporters gave three “New York power brokers” on Sunday — the state’s Democratic assembly speaker, its Senate majority leader, and the governor, Kathy Hochul — as “tepid.” In Hochul’s case, the reaction from the crowd that gathered in Queens over the weekend was more provocative than the Times let on.

As the governor rattled off the prohibitively expensive list of public services they will enjoy when Mamdani establishes his earthly utopia, the crowd began to jeer. “Oh, you’re fired up, you’re fired up,” the governor paused as the crowd chanted “tax the rich!” Hochul forced a smile. “Alright,” she piped up, her patience visibly exhausted. “I can hear you.” But the chants didn’t stop. Fed up with the impertinent socialist mob, she barked, “You want to see Zohran or not?”

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.