Mamdani: Trump ‘coming after’ James ‘because she did the right thing’
New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani blasted President Trump on Thursday for “coming after” New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Donald Trump is coming after her because she did the right thing,” Mamdani said at a Thursday night rally in lower Manhattan. “She held him to account. She showed that no man and no wannabe king is above that same law.”
“This is an authoritarian administration and we, the people, will not stand for it,” he continued. “And so when we reject Donald Trump’s vision — one of cruelty, one of punishment, one of smallness, one of betrayal — we do it with our own vision of solidarity and when it comes to James, of having her back.”
James — whom Mamdani called “one of the greatest champions of the state”— pleaded not guilty on Friday to two federal charges stemming from mortgage fraud allegations. She was indicted by the Trump administration earlier this month.
The Empire State’s top prosecutor criticized Trump’s case against her after leaving the courthouse Friday, saying it stems from a “justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge.” In the past several weeks, the administration has hit James and two other perceived adversaries — former FBI Director James Comey and former national security adviser John Bolton — with charges, raising concerns about Trump’s use of the Department of Justice to prosecute political rivals.
James brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his business empire in 2022, which alleged the then-former president had inflated his own net worth for tax and insurance benefits. A New York judge found Trump liable for fraud and entered a $354.8 million penalty against the president.
The penalty fee eventually rose to more than $500 million due to interest. An appeals court knocked down the fine in August but otherwise kept the case intact. Both Trump and James have appealed.
At the Thursday rally, Mamdani expressed his support for James in challenging her indictment.
“We know she will emerge out of it the same as she came into it: an advocate for the people of the city, of the state, and the people of this country,” he said. “And she will continue in this fight, and we will continue alongside her.”