Billionaires Try To Buy Out Democracy

What do Palantir, DoorDash, Bill Clinton and Michael Bloomberg have in common? They all joined the campaign against candidate Zohran Mamdani, the state Assemblymember who exceeded expectations and effectively won the Democratic NYC mayoral primary when Andrew Cuomo conceded around 11PM on election night. As of July 1st, with ranked choice calculations completed, Mamdani has officially won the primary.

A Cuomo-aligned super PAC, Fix the City, raised $20 million, much of which came through billionaire former mayor Michael Bloomberg. Food delivery service DoorDash donated a million dollars against Mamdani, who got the support of driver group Los Deliveristas Unidos, which organizes app-based delivery drivers.

But in the face of massive corporate backing against him and wild accusations of antisemitism and more, Mamdani will challenge current mayor Eric Adams who is running as an independent. The configuration of the race could drastically change before November as the ruling class tries to  consolidate around a candidate in order to oppose Mamdani’s popular message.

We also discuss the so-called Big Beautiful Bill - which should be called the Big Billionaires’ Bill as it provides significant benefits for the top while attacking poor and working people. As of recording on Tuesday, July 1st, the bill has passed the Senate and is on the way to the House of Representatives.

Support the show