❓WHAT HAPPENED: Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, critiqued the messaging strategy of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s campaign as applied to America more broadly.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Raheem Kassam, Zohran Mamdani, Democrat strategist Laura Fink, and the wider Democratic Party.
📍WHEN & WHERE: November 5, 2025, on the Harry Cole Saves the West show.
💬KEY QUOTE: “[W]e’ve gone from ‘a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage’ to ‘a nine-dollar plate of halal and a free bus ticket.'” – Raheem Kassam
🎯IMPACT: The Democrats adopting Mamdani’s messaging more widely could prove damaging outside diverse, urban centers in general elections.
Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, has expressed skepticism regarding the appeal of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign messaging beyond New York City. His comments came in response to Democrat strategist Laura Fink’s praise for Mamdani’s communication strategy during an appearance on Harry Cole Saves the West.
“[Mamdani] was able to make substantive arguments about what change would look like; it means lowering the price of a plate of halal from $10 to $8… It’s about taxing millionaires and multimillionaires… to make sure that the poorest New Yorkers have access to more affordable childcare and buses,” Fink argued.
Kassam suggested that this pitch may fall flat beyond hyper-diverse urban centers like New York City, remarking, “[W]e’ve gone from ‘a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage’ to ‘a nine-dollar plate of halal and a free bus ticket…’ I don’t think they should be hanging their hats on that messaging. Across the country, people are going to look at that and go, ‘Eh, don’t think so.'”
Kassam was referring to the GOP’s famous pitch to voters ahead of Republican candidate Herbert Hoover’s crushing victory over Democratic candidate Al Smith in 1928, when an ad was run in the New York World declaring, “Republican prosperity has reduced hours and increased earning capacity, silenced discontent, put the proverbial ‘chicken in every pot.’ And a car in every backyard, to boot.”
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