Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin escalated his feud with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Thursday press conference, calling the mayor a “radical socialist” who is “anti-law enforcement” and urging New Yorkers to “wise up” and remove him
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin didn’t wait for a policy question before turning it into an indictment of New York City’s mayor.
On Thursday. during a press conference. Mullin took a fresh jab at Mayor Zohran Mamdani after a reporter asked whether federal immigration operations in sanctuary cities like New York would differ from enforcement efforts elsewhere in the country. Instead of focusing on specifics, Mullin launched into a direct attack on Mamdani’s character and record.
“When you take somebody like Mamdani, who is just this radical socialist that’s anti-law enforcement, anti-police, it’s shameful because NYPD is awesome. They’re phenomenal to work with. They have the best crowd procedures, they have the best law enforcement agency,” Mullin said.
He added that he would “put them up against just about any city around the country” and argued that the department brings “a pride about them of doing so.”
Mullin then accused Mamdani of preventing police from doing their jobs, framing the disagreement as a fight over who gets to lead public safety.
“All these guys in the NYPD, they just want to go to work. They want to do something that they feel like they were called to do — and they’re great at it. ” Mullin said. “But they got a leader that’s handcuffing them. and hopefully the people of New York will wise up and get a true leader in there in a few years.”.
The political heat is not new. Mullin has repeatedly targeted Mamdani in recent days, including after Mamdani renewed his call for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mullin responded by alleging that the New York City mayor was “absolutely destroying a great city.”
This week’s remarks also landed in the shadow of a moment that surprised many observers: Mamdani’s meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in November 2025, after months of public insults exchanged between the president and the mayor.
Mullin said he sees that Oval Office visit as proof of Mamdani’s attitude toward Trump and toward politics more broadly.
“You see the way he treated President Trump?. I mean. President Trump literally brought him into the Oval Office. let him stand beside him. tried to actually give the olive branch and say. ‘Listen. we can set our political differences [aside] together.’ But President Trump loves New York City. He loves the Knicks, too, obviously. And the fact. the way the mayor treated him once he left the Oval Office will tell you what type of man he is. ” Mullin said.
Mamdani, for his part, has defended the Oval Office conversation and how it followed earlier public conflict. Days after the meeting, a reporter asked the NYC mayor whether he stood by earlier comments accusing Trump of being a fascist.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past. I say it today. ” Mamdani told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement. about the politics that has brought us to this moment. And we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers.”.
Taken together. Mullin’s remarks Thursday put New York’s immigration debate and public-safety messaging under the same spotlight: he didn’t just argue over enforcement. he questioned who should lead the city at all—telling voters to remove Mamdani and replace him with what he described as a “true leader.”.
Markwayne Mullin Zohran Mamdani Homeland Security NYPD sanctuary cities immigration enforcement Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE Donald Trump Oval Office Meet the Press sanctuary city policy
Why are they always insulting each other instead of talking about real immigration stuff.
I don’t even get it. He says sanctuary cities like NYC, then starts yelling about the mayor being a socialist? Like what does that change, the crime rate or something? Also NYPD is “awesome” like… cmon. they don’t exactly have a clean record either.
Wait, so the federal guy is basically asking people to vote out the mayor because of “handcuffing” cops? That sounds like he wants more raids or whatever. I heard sanctuary cities are letting illegal immigrants run the streets, but I’m not sure if that’s true. Still, the way he’s talking makes it seem personal.
This is why nothing gets fixed. One guy calls the other a radical socialist and “anti-law enforcement” and then somehow it’s about immigration operations too? Like maybe they’re mad because NYC won’t cooperate with DHS the way other states do. And “best crowd procedures”?? lol what does that even mean, like protests? I swear it’s all vibes with these people. Replace him with who though, another politician who says the same stuff?