- Anthony Scaramucci reacts to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win.
- Warns that Mamdani may cause an exodus of wealthy New Yorkers.
- Crypto executives have spoken out against the new left-wing mayor.
Anthony Scaramucci says Zohran Mamdani will only be successful if he avoids ruling New York as a hard-left mayor.
The SkyBridge Capital founder and vocal crypto backer made the comments in his opening remarks at the inaugural Salt Conference in London on Wednesday, mere hours after 34-year-old Mamdani won the New York mayorship.
“If he governs from the centre, which some people are predicting he’s going to do, then he’ll be a very popular Mayor,” Scaramucci said. “If he goes to the hard left and eliminates people in the police force [then he’ll be unpopular.]”
Mamdani apologised in October for comments that the NYPD needs to be defunded and that it is “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety.”
Crypto financiers rattled
Scaramucci argued that if Mamdani keeps his promise to raise taxes by 2% on those earning over $1 million a year, he will trigger an exodus of wealthy people to states that tax less.
“That hurts the whole economic ecosystem,” Scaramucci said.
The former White House spokesperson told The Street in July that crypto-savvy financiers rattled by Mamdani may choose to bolt from the Big Apple.
Other crypto heavyweights have also been critical of Mamdani.
Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of crypto exchange Gemini, warned in June that crime and uncertainty will surge if Mamdani wins the election, saying zoomers and millennials will get “a refresher on the outcome of Marxism and socialism.”
“New York City on the brink of becoming Gotham City,” Winkevoss tweeted after Mamdani clinched the Democratic nomination.
Mamdani and crypto
The New York City mayor-elect hasn’t made crypto a meaningful component of his political agenda.
In 2023, he backed NY Attorney General Letitia James’ call for more consumer protections following the collapse of projects like Terra and FTX.
“When crypto companies collapse, it isn’t the rich who suffer, it’s small investors who disproportionately come from low-income and communities of colour,” he tweeted at the time.
He has also criticised former Mayor Andrew Cuomo for advising crypto exchange OKX during a Securities and Exchange Commission probe, after which OKX pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws.
In Tuesday’s election, Mamdani beat Cuomo, who ran as an independent with the support of Scaramucci.
“Will you meet him?” Katty Kay, host of The Rest is Politics podcast, asked Scaramucci on stage in London on Wednesday.
“I’m sure it’s not going to be a pleasant meeting for me. I’ve been shitting on the guy for the last three months,” Scaramucci quipped.
Eric Johansson is DL News’ managing editor. Got a tip? Email at eric@dlnews.com.