Charlie Kirk calls Mamdani the 'campus riot' candidate, warns he's a preview of Democratic Party's future

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has declared Zohran Mamdani the "encampment candidate" in the New York City mayoral race.

Kirk called the democratic socialist's victory in last week's Democratic primary a "wake-up call" that, despite President Donald Trump's decisive victory in the 2024 election, "the radical left is not going away."

"The things he wants to do are so outrageous. They're so dangerous," Kirk told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday. "They are on a descent, honestly, that would make New York closer to a third world city. And that pains me because I love New York. 

"But we must understand, though, that he fundamentally was able to build a coalition around economics. And there are a lot of people that are suffering economically right now. And when you have an economy that we inherited from Joe Biden - I believe Donald Trump is fixing it - that is not working, that is disordered, then you get radical politics as a result."

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Charlie Kirk calls Zohran Mamdani the "encampment candidate." (REUTERS/Marco Bello; REUTERS/Bing Guan)

Among the far-left stances Mamdani has campaigned on include government-run grocery stores, free childcare, fare-free buses, raising taxes on the wealthy and slashing police funding. He has also promised not to cooperate with the Trump administration's efforts by ICE to deport illegal immigrants. 

The conservative influencer believes Mamdani's rise was cultivated on New York's college campuses and by the unrest fueled by young voters in recent years. 

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"The sentiment towards the West is hyper-radicalized in a negative direction if you look at where a lot of these students are educated," Kirk said. "What happens on college campuses in New York will soon happen in City Hall. It's a very important thing. The college campuses are a leading indicator to City Hall. On one side, we see the Columbia protests for now nearly two years. And now all of a sudden people say, ‘Where did this Mamdani guy come from?’ Well, guys, you had the Columbia protest and the NYU protest and the encampments all over New York City that is going to express itself politically. And Mamdani is the encampment candidate. He is the campus riot protest candidate." 

"Sometimes people think, ‘Oh, what happens on college campuses is isolated, that it is just its own community.' No, it's a leading indicator, it's the canary in the coal mine, it's a harbinger, it is a signal of things to come."

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk called Mamdani the "encampment candidate" in an interview with Fox News Digital. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)

Mamdani migrated to New York City when he was seven after being born in Uganda and living in South Africa. While he didn't attend Columbia or NYU, when he attended Bowdoin College in Maine, he was the co-founder of the college's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

The 33-year-old New York state assembly member has been making headlines over his refusal to condemn the anti-Israel slogan "globalize the intifada" and his previous vow to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he visits New York City. 

While he thinks it's too soon to brand Mamdani as the face of the Democratic Party, Kirk does believe Mamdani represents the party's "socialist" base, which he traced to the 2016 presidential run of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. 

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Kirk argued that the radicalization of college campuses in New York City propelled Mamdani in the mayoral primary.  (Getty Images)

"We have been dealing with a corporate Democrat Party, which is still very radical. But it's nowhere near the AOCs, the Bernie Sanders, the Ilhan Omars, the Rashida Tlaibs, the Brandon Johnsons, the Karen Basses," Kirk said. "And now we are starting to see that radical base rise to the surface.

"You are going to see hundreds of Mamdani-type candidates throughout the country pop up on city council, in mayors races, state representatives, Congress, senators. Mamdani is a preview of more to come in the Democrat Party."

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