Politics
WATCH: Cuban-Born Lawmaker Issues Powerful Rebuke Of ‘Marxist’ Zohran Mamdani
U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), a South Florida lawmaker whose family fled communist oppression in Cuba, issued a powerful and haunting statement on the rise of pro-communist New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani during a press conference alongside House leadership on Thursday.
“I’m the only Cuban -born member of Congress. That means I was born in Cuba. I was not born here in the United States. I didn’t speak a word of English until I got here. I was seven years old. And the reason I’m here is that my parents brought me here seeking freedom, freedom from communism, freedom from a Marxist regime,” Giménez said.
“And so I can tell you that I know a communist and a Marxist when I see one. They may call themselves a socialist. They may call themselves a democratic socialist. But, you know, make no mistake; Mamdani in New York, he’s a Marxist.”
Giménez was born on January 25, 1954, in Havana, Cuba, during a period of political upheaval following the 1959 communist revolution. In 1960, he and his family were forced to flee Cuba due to the intensifying oppression under Castro’s communist regime. This exodus occurred less than two years after the revolution, as the government escalated seizures of private assets, as well as violent suppression dissent and political adversaries.
In reference to Mamdani, Giménez noted that he echoes communist rhetoric despite putting on a facade focused on his religion and age. “I understand you can be proud of that. But then, you know, if you’re so proud, don’t call yourself a democratic socialist. You are a Marxist, go ahead. Tell people exactly who you are. He couldn’t and he can’t because he knew he wouldn’t get elected,” the lawmaker said.
“But I hope that the people of New York do not suffer the same consequences that my homeland of Cuba has suffered. Castro and the Castro regime destroyed my homeland. They can’t even keep the lights on. They don’t have food, they don’t have medicine, they can’t keep the lights on. It’s a total disaster of an island, a beautiful island that actually had the second highest standard of living in the Western Hemisphere when the regime took over,” he continued. “And so one of the reasons I’m in Congress, the primary reason I’m in Congress, is that I want to make sure that my children and grandchildren never suffer the same fate that my parents did, having to leave their country and bring us to a new country with about $10 in their pocket.”
Mamdani has indeed expressed support for explicitly communist causes and candidates in the past.
In one infamous post from December 2020, Mamdani reposted a tweet celebrating the election of a communist mayoral candidate in India. “Comrade Arya Rajendran, age 21 new Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala. She will be the youngest mayor of a major city in the world. Here she leads a detachment of Red Volunteers,” reads the post, which was posted from an official communist party account.
“Them: what kind of mayor does NYC need right now?” Mamdani reposted before confirming that he was endorsing this kind of leadership.
He has also advanced a number of policies long associated with communist regimes, including government-run grocery stores and the abolition of private property.
