Fox Business host Charles Payne argued Wednesday that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory was fueled not by the working class, but by what he described as “pampered” and “entitled” young elites.
Speaking on America Reports, Payne pointed to exit polls showing Mamdani performed significantly better among voters earning more than $100,000 a year than among those making less than $30,000. He suggested that the progressive Democrat’s base consisted largely of privileged young professionals who felt disillusioned after failing to achieve the financial success they expected after college.
“What I find interesting about this, particularly the screen you have before this with the affordability stuff — the poorest people in New York City, people who dropped out of high school, people with only a high school diploma — they didn’t vote for Mamdani,” Payne said. “You know, it’s being characterized as, well, free, it was freebie stuff. This was an election about pampered, the most elite, pampered, entitled folks out there — recent college grads who thought they would walk into a six-figure job when they moved to New York City, and they’re not.”
Payne noted that the city’s working poor — those struggling to make ends meet — overwhelmingly backed former Governor Andrew Cuomo instead, calling it one of the “ironies” of the election.
According to Payne, the results underscore a growing divide within the Democratic Party, where affluent progressives are increasingly shaping electoral outcomes, while the traditional working-class base continues to drift away.
Independent New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo outperformed Zohran Mamdani among the city’s lowest earners, winning voters making less than $30,000 a year by a 48% to 42% margin, according to a CNN exit poll. In contrast, Mamdani drew stronger support from higher-income voters — winning 55% to 37% among those earning between $100,000 and $199,999, and edging out Cuomo 49% to 44% among voters with incomes between $200,000 and $299,999.
The education divide was similarly stark. A plurality of voters who never attended college backed Cuomo over Mamdani, 46% to 40%. Meanwhile, Mamdani captured 57% of voters holding a bachelor’s or advanced degree, compared to Cuomo’s 38%, the poll found.
A Fox News poll revealed that 64% of New Yorkers had a negative view of the city’s economy, while 60% believed that raising taxes would harm economic growth. Despite those concerns, many of these same voters supported Mamdani — a self-identified socialist — who has pledged to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund an ambitious slate of progressive policies.
Mamdani’s campaign platform includes raising the minimum wage to $30 per hour, establishing government-run grocery stores and bus systems, and creating a Department of Community Safety to dispatch mental health professionals — rather than police — for non-violent 911 calls.
The late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk once discussed what he termed “luxury beliefs” — elite ideological positions that carry no real cost for those who hold them but negatively impact working-class Americans. Kirk observed that much of the support for far-left economic and social policies comes from college students and recent graduates of elite universities, a demographic that mirrors the core of Mamdani’s voter base.
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