Close associates of two former Democratic U.S. presidents criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over both his economic and foreign policy rhetoric. Mark Penn, an advisor to former President Bill Clinton, targeted Mamdani's proposed luxury property tax plan, while Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, announced that he had questioned Mamdani's views on Israel during a private meeting.
Mark Penn criticized Mamdani for listing property owners who could be subject to the tax in a public database. In a post on X, Penn claimed that the list included nearly 1 million property owners instead of about 30,000 luxury homeowners. "The $5 million figure was fake," Penn said, arguing that the city's assessment system misclassified properties and would force homeowners to prove they were not subject to the tax.
Penn argued that the proposal could lower real estate values, discourage investment in New York, and raise constitutional questions.
Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel said on a podcast that he had a private meeting with Mamdani lasting about 90 minutes. Emanuel, who said he questioned the self-described democratic socialist mayor's views on Israel, praised Mamdani's domestic policy proposals such as childcare but criticized his past use of the phrase "from the river to the sea."
Emanuel said he told Mamdani, "I know where the border is. You don't." He said both calls for a "Greater Israel" and the "from the river to the sea" slogan would lead to "perpetual conflict."
After Emanuel's remarks spread on social media, Mamdani's communications director Anna Bahr rejected the account. In a post on X, Bahr wrote, "I can confirm that... it didn't happen." It is unclear whether Bahr's statement referred to the meeting not taking place or to Emanuel's account of it.
Emanuel also criticized the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) more broadly this week. In a post on X, he argued that Democrats should focus on winning competitive elections rather than ideological distractions. "You can focus on winning tough races, turning red seats blue. Or abolishing prisons... the Senate and the Supreme Court? You can't do both," Emanuel said, adding, "I'm for winning this November and ending Trump's corruption; I'm also for ending all of the DSA's distractions."
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Penn, Emanuel, and Mamdani for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
