(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump has claimed that residents of New York City will soon “flee communism” following the election of Zohran Mamdani, a progressive Democrat and self-described democratic socialist, as the city’s new mayor.

Speaking to supporters in Miami on Wednesday, Trump said that Democrats had “installed a communist” to lead the nation’s largest city and joked that Florida would soon become a refuge for those escaping communism in New York.

Mamdani, elected on Tuesday, has advocated policies such as affordable housing, public ownership of utilities, and wealth taxation. His platform has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives and moderates who accuse him of promoting “radical” and “communist” ideas. Supporters, however, argue that his proposals tackle New York’s deepening housing and inequality crises.

Trump’s remarks carried particular resonance in Miami, home to large Cuban and Venezuelan diasporas—communities that fled socialist or communist regimes and helped cement Florida’s reputation as a haven for anti-communist sentiment.

The president has frequently used the term “communist” as a political weapon to attack his opponents. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump labeled Democratic rival Kamala Harris’s grocery price control proposal as “full Communist.”

Political analysts note that Trump’s comments reflect a long-standing American aversion to communism, rooted in decades of Cold War-era policies aimed at containing the ideology through interventions in conflicts such as Korea and Vietnam, as well as support for anti-communist regimes around the world.

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