Trump’s State of the Union speech shows a narcissistic, sociopath who is a danger to Americans and the world

Fascism in the vein of Hitler's regime is starkly manifest in Trump's America, in its cult of personality, in threats against those that oppose him, and fervent white nationalism and white supremacy.

 

By Fareed Khan 
A version of this can be found on Substack.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address the United States is at a crossroads, grappling with a vision of leadership that prioritizes spectacle over substance. Delivered in the House of Representatives chamber the speech clocked in at an unprecedented 1 hour and 48 minutes, shattering records for length while offering a barrage of claims about economic revival, border security, and global dominance that were not based in reality. This marathon speech painted a picture of America resurgent under Trump’s stewardship. Yet, beneath the bravado and the chants of “USA” from Republicans in the chamber, the address revealed deeper fissures in the fabric of American democracy—echoes of a superpower diminished and declining not due to external forces, but by internal deceptions, divisions, corruption and hubris.

Trump’s narrative centred on an economy he described as “roaring” and “booming,” crediting his policies for record job growth and plummeting inflation. He boasted of unemployment holding steady at around 4.3%, with wage growth outpacing inflation and consumer confidence on the rise. However, these assertions mask a more troubling reality. Fact-checkers noted exaggerations, such as his claim of inheriting a “stagnant economy” from the previous administration, when in truth, he built upon a post-pandemic recovery already underway during Joe Biden’s last year in office. American GDP growth slowed to 1.4% in the last quarter of 2025, attributed in part to a prolonged government shutdown the prior year. Such selective storytelling fosters a culture where facts are malleable, tailored to fit a narrative of unassailable success, leaving citizens starved of objective truth and vulnerable to manipulated perceptions.

The speech’s emphasis on immigration enforcement further highlighted a troubling embrace of cruelty over humanity. Trump clashed sharply with Democrats, accusing them of prioritizing “illegal aliens” over American citizens and urging the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act—a law condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union—to mandate proof of citizenship for voting. He touted mass deportations and border security as triumphs, claiming the border is now “secure” and crime rates are dropping. Yet, reports indicate that operations by what many American’s are calling the “ICE gestapo” (Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents) have led to the detention of tens of thousands, including US citizens, and at least two American deaths in custody, as well as the public shootings of two American citizens in Minnesota. This approach sees compassion as a weakness, celebrating policies that inflict suffering on vulnerable populations while ignoring the human cost. Outrage is reserved not for these injustices, but for any critique of Trump’s lies, by his army of MAGA trolls who worship the ground he walks on.

Trump’s portrayal of himself as a saviour figure—a billionaire outsider rescuing the nation from decline— was on full display. He honoured heroes like the US men’s hockey team and awarded medals, framing himself as the architect of national renewal amid the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary. Supporters on social media hailed the speech as “epic” and “thrilling,” praising his invocation of Judeo-Christian values and declaration of America as a “Christian nation,” a supreme irony given the decidedly anti-Christian practices of his administration. However, this adulation overlooks his history of legal troubles, including more than 30 convictions that his MAGA base dismisses as political persecution. The address recycled unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, sowing doubt in democratic processes and feeding conspiracy theories that sustain his grip on power.

A particularly alarming theme emerged in Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements, where he positioned the US as a dominant global force which, in reality, is wreaking calculated havoc abroad. He addressed tensions with Iran, stating they “want to make a deal more than I do” but refusing to budge on nuclear ambitions, while boasting of “Operation Midnight Hammer” that allegedly obliterated their program. He mentioned seizing 80 million barrels of Venezuelan oil following the attack on Maduro’s regime, framing it as an economic win.

Such actions, presented as triumphs, resemble unchecked aggression, scorching distant lands with the fire of American interventionism. The global community watches warily, aware that one reckless move could unleash catastrophe, where international relationships are undone due to colonial and imperialistic ambitions.

Domestically, the speech exacerbated existing divisions, splitting the nation into echo chambers of resentment. Trump lambasted Democrats for not standing during applause lines on protecting citizens, supporting victims of crimes by undocumented immigrants, or endorsing voter ID laws. Incidents like Democratic Rep. Al Green’s removal for holding a sign reading “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES” underscored the racial tensions simmering beneath the surface. His base consumes these narratives through social media, where memes and half-truths nourish a worldview of supremacy, declaring that Trumpian acolytes are the true guardians of society while demonizing others as traitors.

Even the tech sector’s billionaire moguls—individuals whose vast fortunes insulate them from the everyday hardships faced by ordinary people—now display a disturbing deference to Trump’s authoritarian leanings. During the address, he proudly announced a so-called “Rate Payer Protection Pledge,“ claiming he had secured agreements with major AI and tech companies to ensure they cover their own electricity costs for power-hungry data centres, framing himself as an unrivalled master negotiator who shields everyday consumers from rising bills.

Yet this supposed triumph reveals a deeper capitulation. These once-independent titans of Silicon Valley who built empires on disruption and free inquiry, now appear to bend the knee to a leader whose governance increasingly resembles that of tyrants in authoritarian regimes. By aligning with policies that prioritize short-term optics over principled oversight, they help sustain a man who thrives on division, spectacle, and the erosion of accountability. What begins as pragmatic self-interest in powering AI ambitions risks becoming complicity in a broader fog of moral and democratic decrepitude. 

The address’s combative turn, about an hour in, shifted from optimism to grievances against the Supreme Court for striking down his global tariffs—a policy he vowed to resurrect through new means, even suggesting tariffs could eventually replace income taxes. The fact that he was critical of the four justices sitting before him (a majority refused to attend), whose job is to be a check against government overreach illustrates a leader who greets any criticism with scorn, continuing to pursue discredited ideas with renewed vigour despite their illegality, much like the fable of the emperor with no clothes being flattered by his subjects. 

As the speech unfolded, one could say that Americans were witnessing another step in the slow unravelling of world’s oldest constitutional democracy. Many of the proposals outlined in Trump’s speech, sounded appealing but lacked the legislative details, serving more as a political rallying cry aimed at the mid-term elections rather than substantive policy proposals. With approval ratings for Trump hovering lower than ever the address aimed to reset his agenda amid economic worries and a potential war with Iran. Yet, the underlying menace of his mantra, fuelled by division and disregard for norms, threatens to burn all in its path. 

The world, compelled to endure the erratic thrashings of this corrupt and dangerous leader, must fully grasp the peril. A single impulsive outburst could plunge humanity into an abyss from which there is no return. With each passing day, Trump’s decisions and decrees inch the US and the world perilously closer to the edge of catastrophe. In the face of this wounded and vigilant citizens and leaders across the globe must join forces, raising a unified chorus of condemnation and action against this harbinger of calamity, whose toxic influence threatens to shatter the very pillars of international civil society.

Though many may recoil from the truth, fascism in the vein of Hitler’s regime is starkly manifest in Trump’s America—embodied in its cult of personality, its threats and attacks on those that oppose him, and fervent white nationalism and white supremacy. It even echoes the horrors of concentration camps through detention centres that imprison the innocent, including American citizens swept up by ICE raids.

History bears grim witness to the consequences of inaction against the Nazis in the 1930s, allowing tyranny to fester and engulf the world in flames. To avert a chilling repetition, the global community must rally without delay, bolstering those who seek to excise this malignant figure and his obsequious enablers from power—not merely for America’s redemption, but for the preservation of humanity’s shared future. We must all remember that in the face of rising authoritarianism, silence is complicity, and unity is our greatest weapon against the encroaching darkness.
 

© 2026 The View From Here. © 2026 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.

The world must unite against the menace of Donald Trump

Trump is a deranged force, and it is time for people in the United States, Canada, Europe, and across the globe to recognize the clear and present threat he poses... 

By Fareed Khan 
A version of this article can be found on Substack.

In an era where the fragility of democracy is laid bare, one figure stands as a stark emblem of peril—not just to the United States, but to the entire world. Donald Trump, a man whose every action and utterance reeks of malice, sociopathy, callousness, ignorance and racism, embodies a global threat that demands immediate and unified opposition. This is not hyperbole. It is a sober assessment of a leader who commits treason against his own nation with his every breath and action. His corruption surpasses that of any previous U.S. president, his self-serving nature knows no bounds, and his moral bankruptcy is matched only by his profound ignorance.

More alarmingly, Trump poses a danger eclipsing even Adolf Hitler, armed as he is with control over the world’s most potent nuclear arsenal, a military far superior to that of any other nation, and imperial ambitions that could ignite global catastrophe. He is a deranged force, an orange-tinged blight, and it is time for people in the United States, Canada, Europe, and across the globe to recognize the clear and present threat he poses, and rally together to stop him.

Trump’s pathology is evident in his relentless pursuit of power, a hunger that corrupts everything it touches. He revels in symbols of dominance, from skyscrapers emblazoned with his name, to his attempts to imprint his name on institutions that once stood for higher ideals. Consider his brazen move to associate his brand with the Kennedy Centre, a venue honouring John F. Kennedy—a president who symbolized hope and progress. This act alone sullies a legacy of American aspiration, replacing it with the crass commercialism of a man who views the presidency as an extension of his real estate empire, and a way to enrich himself.

But this is merely the surface. Beneath lies a deep-seated racism that seeks to purify the nation in his image, favouring those who are white while unleashing the forces of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on anyone who doesn’t fit his narrow racist vision of what an American should be. Under his influence, ICE operates like a modern Gestapo, targeting racialized immigrants, enforcing policies that tear families apart, and instilling fear in immigrant communities. Tragic cases, such as the alleged executions of figures like Alex Pretti and Renee Good, highlight how this agency has become a fascist cancer within American society, eroding the very principles of justice and basic humanity.

This racism is not isolated. It permeates Trump’s entire worldview, turning policy into a tool of exclusion and violence. He wags the tail of the nation like a dog, using lies upon lies to distract from his true agenda, which is fleecing the US treasury and the world through coercive tactics. His threats to take oil from Venezuela exemplify this, treating the natural wealth of sovereign nations as resources to be plundered for the benefit of the US. Tariffs imposed on trading partners worldwide serve as economic weapons, punishing allies and adversaries alike in a bid to assert global dominance. Trump is like a blood-sucking leech, draining vitality from American society and international relations. Even more disturbing are the personal horrors attributed to him—allegations of predatory behaviour towards vulnerable individuals, including young girls, which underscores a reprehensibility that shocks the conscience.

His supporters, donning their red MAGA hats sit idly by applauding as laws and constitutional rights are trampled to advance their fascist agenda. For them, loyalty to the man overrides fidelity to the republic, creating a cult-like atmosphere where accountability evaporates, not unlike how Germans viewed Hitler in his rise to power.

The danger escalates when we examine Trump’s foreign policy ambitions, which read like a blueprint for imperial conquest. He has openly mused about annexing Greenland, dismissing Denmark’s sovereignty as an inconvenience. His sabre-rattling toward Iran threatens to plunge the Middle East into further chaos, potentially sparking a conflict that could draw in global powers. Regime change in Cuba is another fixation, echoing Cold War aggressions but with modern military might. Perhaps most audaciously, he has joked—or perhaps not—about annexing Canada, treating a peaceful neighbour and ally as territory ripe for seizure. The Panama Canal, a symbol of international cooperation, is similarly in his sights, with vows to reclaim control through whatever means necessary. Trump has made clear that he will deploy any force he deems suitable to achieve his foreign policy goals, whether economic pressure, military intervention, or outright invasion. These are not idle threats. They stem from a mindset that views the world as a zero-sum game, where America’s gain requires the subjugation of others.

Compounding this external menace is Trump’s systematic dismantling of domestic institutions. He has shut down or severely cut back funding for critical agencies, fired top government and military officials—seasoned experts with decades of experience—replacing them with unqualified MAGA acolytes whose primary qualification is unwavering loyalty to him. This purge echoes the authoritarian playbook, where competence is sacrificed for sycophancy. Intelligence chiefs, generals, and senior officials with careers in the government who dared question his whims were ousted, leaving voids filled by ideologues ill-equipped to handle complex crises. The result is a government hollowed out, more prone to blunders that could have worldwide repercussions. Imagine a nuclear decision made not by strategic minds but by yes-men eager to please a volatile leader. This internal rot amplifies the global risk, as a weakened U.S. apparatus becomes a source of instability rather than stability.

To grasp the full scope of the threat, we must draw historical parallels, painful as they are. The last time a man of such malignant character seized control of a powerful nation, it led to World War Two—a conflagration that claimed over 70 million lives and left swaths of Europe and the Far East in ruins. Hitler, too, was underestimated at first, dismissed as a bombastic figure with fringe appeal. Yet his racism, desire for territorial expansion, cult of personality, and goal to “Deutschland wieder groß machen” (Make Germany great again), ignited a horror that reshaped the world. Trump, while not identical, shares eerie similarities--the demonization of minorities, the deconstruction of important government institutions, the erosion of democratic norms, and the pursuit of expanding American territory.

But unlike Hitler, Trump commands a nuclear arsenal capable of ending civilization in minutes, the most powerful military in the world with unparalleled reach, and social media platforms with well over 150 millions followers collectively. His ambitions to invade and occupy other nations could trigger the fracture of decades old alliances, collapse economies, and escalate conflicts into military exchanges that could go nuclear. The people of the United States are bearing the immediate brunt—through eroded rights, economic uncertainty, and social division—but the ripple effects threaten people around the world. Canadians face the spectre of annexation, Europeans the fallout from transatlantic rifts, and nations worldwide the chaos of disrupted trade, fractured supply lines, and heightened militarism.

This is why unity to confront the Trump threat is not optional, it is imperative. People in the U.S. must mobilize through votes, protests, and civic engagement to reclaim their democracy. Congress and the Senate hold the power to check this deranged lunatic—through investigations, impeachments, or legislative barriers—but they have too often faltered, cowed by fear and partisan pressures. Beyond America’s borders, Canada should fortify its sovereignty by pushing back against any encroachment with diplomatic resolve, international alliances, and increased investments in its military. Europeans, drawing from their own history of resisting tyranny, must strengthen NATO and economic ties with nations outside Europe to counter Trump.

Around the world—from Asia to Africa to Latin America—leaders and citizens alike should condemn his aggressions, forming coalitions to isolate his regime economically and politically. International bodies like the United Nations must amplify voices against his threats, while civil society groups coordinate global campaigns to expose his corruption, and push narratives that demonstrate how dangerous he really is.

In the US and overseas there are likely many who are praying for the Trump nightmare to end quickly. But prayer alone is insufficient, what is needed is decisive action. Americans, Canadians and Europeans cannot wait for the blight that is Donald Trump to consume more ground. Trump’s hold on power must be broken, not through violence, but through the collective will of free peoples. Educators should teach the lessons of history to prevent its repetition, journalists must speak truth to power without fear, and everyday citizens must not only engage in dialogue that bridges divides, but also be unafraid to speak out against fascist narratives. In the U.S., this means supporting civil society groups and independent institutions demanding accountability from elected officials. Internationally, it involves solidarity pacts that protect vulnerable nations from his predations.

Yet, the path forward demands nuance. While Trump’s flaws are glaring, the opposition must avoid descending into the same sort of divisiveness he fosters. Unity against him should be rooted in shared values—democracy, human rights, and international cooperation—rather than mere antagonism. By focusing on these principles, we can build a post-Trump era that is more resilient and just. The alternative is unthinkable--a slide toward authoritarianism that could dwarf the devastations of the 1930s and 1940s.

Ultimately Donald Trump represents an existential threat that transcends borders. His sociopathy, megalomania, racism, and fascist impulses endanger not only Americans but the global order. This is a man who can fairly be described as truly sick, a force of extortion and horror that must be stopped. The world has faced such dangers before, and emerged bruised and battered but stronger through unity. Now, as in the shadow of World War Two, we must rise together—Americans, Canadians, Europeans, and all global citizens—to ensure that this orange faced lunatic does not drag us into abyss. The time for action is now. Delay invites disaster. For the sake of our shared humanity and the future of our planet let us commit to this cause, and not repeat the mistakes that allowed a madman in the 1930s to set the world ablaze.

© 2026 The View From Here. © 2026 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.

Trump’s treasonous acts are rotting the soul of the US and destroying American democracy

Donald Trump’s presidency is the opening act of America's tragic decline. By rotting the nation’s collective soul he irreversibly embeds fascism into the heart of US political culture.

By Fareed Khan 
A version of this article can be found on Substack.

A nation can survive its fools as leaders and even their ambitions. But it cannot survive treason from within, and that is what Donald Trump is committing—treason against the United States since he was re-elected in 2024. In most instances the traitor doesn’t appear as a traitor but rather as someone who speaks in language and ideas familiar to their victims, appealing to the basest instincts that lie deep within the hearts of all human beings. But when in power, they rot the soul of a nation with their policies and actions, working secretly and openly to undermine its foundational pillars. They infect the body politic so deeply that it can no longer resist their machinations. One could even say that in some ways they are to be more feared than hardened criminals.

As the world enters the second year of Donald Trump’s second presidency, the US (and the world) stands at a precipice. Trump’s return to the White House, admittedly a remarkable political resurrection, has also been a harbinger of an irreversible decline. His leadership and the people in his administration are systematically eroding the moral and institutional foundations of the US, transforming it from a supposed beacon of democracy into a hollow shell of authoritarianism. This is not hyperbole but a sober assessment drawn from historical parallels and contemporary analyses. Trump’s presidency is rotting the soul of America, initiating a long decline from superpower status that future administrations will be unlikely to reverse.

Consider the soul of a nation as its collective ethos—the shared values of liberty, justice, and human dignity that American leaders have used to define the nation since its founding. Trump has assaulted this ethos in a relentless fashion since his first administration. His rhetoric, laced with divisive and dehumanizing language, has normalized hatred and eroded empathy in American society. As one critical essay noted, Trump embodies a reflection of America’s darker impulses, much like the portrait in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, revealing the ugliness beneath the surface. His policies and pronouncements have fostered a culture where truth is malleable, facts are “alternative,” and dissent is branded as terrorism or disloyalty. This corrosion is evident in the surge of political violence and polarization that has intensified since his first election in 2016. Scholars have argued that Trump’s presidency destroyed virtues essential to national ambition like intellectualism and integrity, leading to a shredding of the nation’s moral fabric.

This rotting of America’s soul, which has been in progress for years, is inextricably linked to the nation’s slow decline as a global superpower. For decades, the US has maintained its hegemony through military might, economic dominance, and soft power—while trumpeting the allure of its democratic ideals. Under Trump, these pillars are deteriorating. His isolationist “America First” agenda has alienated allies, weakened international institutions, and emboldened adversaries like Russia and China. Analyses by senior officials from the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations highlight how Trump’s decisions have systematically shrunk the US from a global leader to a regional power, with irreversible damage to its credibility. The abandonment of multilateral agreements, such as his threats to withdraw from NATO and pull back from multiple international institutions and bodies, has signalled to the world that America is unreliable as a partner and an ally. As one report starkly puts it, Trump’s administration is steadily undermining US power, creating a more chaotic international order where American influence diminishes with every passing day. And this decline is structural not temporary. The erosion of trust in the US by its allies and trading partners means that even if the Democrats regained power they would struggle to rebuild alliances and friendships, marking the beginning of a long, inexorable slide from superpower status.

Central to this transformation is Trump’s pushing the US toward fascism, epitomized by his weaponization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a modern day gestapo, his scapegoating of immigrants and the LGBTQ2 and his systematic efforts to delegitimize democratic institutions. Under Trump’s directives, ICE has expanded into a paramilitary force with a budget surpassing all other policing agencies combined, instigating deadly violence on the streets of American cities, conducting raids, mass deportations, and surveillance that echo the tactics of authoritarian regimes. Reports from human rights observers describe ICE operations as intensifying in a manner reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s Gestapo, with agents employing fear and brutality to enforce draconian policies.

Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants as “vermin” and “poisoning the blood” of America draws directly from Hitler’s playbook, dehumanizing entire populations to justify state violence. This is not mere enforcement of immigration law, it is the building of an authoritarian state apparatus. Critics of Trump’s regime argue that he has successfully created a fascist state through his policies and actions—a nation that fought fascism in World War Two at great cost has become a fascist authoritarian state, where loyalty to Trump’s personality cult supersedes the rule of law, and dissent is crushed under the guise of security.

However, the most chilling aspect of Trump’s embrace of fascism is that it is not confined to Trump himself. It is embedded in the MAGA movement that is the foundation of his power, and the people around him, ensuring it will not disappear even if Trump leaves the stage through impeachment, defeat, or death. Figures like Vice President J.D. Vance—a one-time critic of Trump who compared him to Hitler—embody this enduring threat. He has become a fervent disciple, echoing the fascist undertones of MAGA ideology with appeals to raw power and exclusionary, racist nationalism.

Analyses of Trumpism describe it as a form of authoritarianism that radicalizes in office, with leaders like Vance and cabinet members worshipping at the altar of Trump’s ideology and his personality cult. The cabinet, stocked with loyalists who prioritize personal allegiance over constitutional duty, includes ideologues who push for policies that entrench fascist elements—such as mass surveillance, voter suppression, and the erosion of judicial independence. Even if Trump vanished, these true believers would continue to carry his torch, even as fascism in America becomes a cancer and not the personal quirk of one man. Scholars warn that utilizing terms like “fascism” to describe what is happening in the US is politically essential to mobilize against this movement, which has realigned political and economic grievances into nationalist exclusion.

Beyond America’s borders, Trump’s fixation on the Arctic poses existential dangers to Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway. As Arctic nations, these countries not only control vital resources but also strategic sea lanes that will become increasingly contested due to climate change and thawing Arctic ice. Trump’s repeated threats to seize Greenland—which he framed as essential for US security—reveal a colonial and imperialist mindset that treats sovereign territories as real estate that can be bought or threatened into the arms of the US. His administration views the Arctic as a battleground against Russia and China, but his aggressive rhetoric has escalated tensions, putting allies at risk. For Canada, this means heightened vulnerability in the Arctic, where Trump’s complaints about inadequate defences could lead to coercive demands or unilateral US actions on or over Canadian territory in the far north.

Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory, faces direct threats of annexation which could destabilize NATO and invite broader conflicts, despite Trump’s recent walk back. Key Arctic allies Iceland and Norway, are similarly endangered by Trump’s zero-sum approach, which prioritizes American dominance over cooperative security. Experts argue that Trump’s Greenland gambit exposes the costs of overt aggression, risking monumental fallout across the NATO alliance. This obsession exposes Trump’s ignorance, political folly and antipathy towards international relations and diplomacy that endangers the delicate balance that has maintained stability in the Arctic for more than a century.

Ultimately, Donald Trump’s presidency is not just another chapter in American history but the opening act of its tragic decline. By rotting the nation’s collective soul with the ugliness of his political vision, fostering fascism through institutions like ICE, initiating racist immigration policies, and vilifying immigrants, minorities and anyone who opposes him, Trump is embedding an irreversible authoritarian movement into the heart of US political culture, and setting the nation on a path from which recovery seems impossible in the short term. The dangers also extend northward, threatening Canada and its Arctic neighbours with a belligerent hegemonic power fixated on territorial expansion.

History teaches us that empires fall not from external foes but from internal rot, and the US is no exception—its foundations crumbling under the weight of division, deceit, and demagoguery sown by a leader who prioritizes and covets absolute power over principle. From the Roman Empire’s descent into corruption and tyranny to the British Empire’s erosion through moral decay and overreach, the pattern is clear—nations implode when their core values are poisoned from within, and when they allow personalities into positions of leadership who crave political and economic supremacy at home and abroad.

The Trump era has accelerated America’s decay, turning democratic institutions into tools of oppression, eroding trust in government, and normalizing hatred that fractures communities and silences dissent. It is time for the world—and Americans themselves—to recognize Trump’s treason from within as the insidious betrayal it truly is—a deliberate assault on liberty, equality, and justice that echoes the darkest chapters of history. Americans must act with unyielding resolve, through global solidarity, vigilant advocacy, and unwavering resistance, before the pillars of American democracy collapse entirely, leaving behind a hollow shell of what was once a nation that saw itself a beacon of democracy and freedom, and dragging its neighbours and allies into the abyss of instability and conflict.

© 2026 The View From Here. © 2026 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.

How did the US become a nation that Is embracing fascism?

Nine months into Trump’s second presidential term fascism is no longer an imagined threat, it is real and it poses a legitimate threat to American democracy. 

By Fareed Khan

A version of this article can be found on Substack.

On November 4, 2025, America delivered a thunderous rebuke to Donald Trump’s second presidency. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani—a 34-year-old Ugandan-born, South Asian, Muslim democratic socialist—shattered a political dynasty by defeating former governor and primary challenger Andrew Cuomo to become the city’s first Muslim mayor. Across the Hudson River, New Jersey voters elected Democratic Congressional Representative Mikie Sherrill governor by a double-digit margin, extending Democratic control of the governor’s mansion for an unprecedented third consecutive term. In Virginia, former Representative Abigail Spanberger became the state’s first female governor, while state Senator Ghazala Hashmi won the lieutenant governor’s race, becoming the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office anywhere in the United States.

These were not routine off-year elections. They were political earthquakes. Turnout in New York City shattered records not seen since 1969, with more than two million ballots cast. The common denominator in every decisive victory was American president Donald Trump—though his name appeared on no ballot. Voters, especially in diverse urban and suburban strongholds, sent an unmistakable message—we reject the cruelty, the racism, and the authoritarian drift that has defined his second term.

Yet the question remains, searing and urgent. How did the United States—a nation that once styled itself as a “beacon of democracy”—become a country that is now embracing fascism, an ideology that more than 400,000 American military personnel died fighting in World War Two? The answer is not a mystery. It is the oldest story that the US has never told with honesty. The most powerful nation in the history of the world was not founded on freedom. It was founded on stolen land, cleared by indigenous genocide, and built by African slaves, who were broken by force. Everything else is decoration.

Let’s start at the beginning. Long before the first enslaved Africans arrived in North America, European settlers embraced the doctrine that the indigenous people of what became the United State were an inferior race. “Our nation was born in genocide,” Martin Luther King Jr. observed in 1963, “when it embraced the doctrine that the Indian . . . was an inferior race.” The Declaration of Independence itself denounces “the merciless Indian Savages,” codifying racial hierarchy in the nation’s founding text. Settlers did not merely conquer Native Americans as they expanded into the interior of the continent, they exterminated them with the help of the US government. By 1900, the pre-Columbian Indigenous population in the contiguous US had plummeted by 96%, from millions to fewer than 250,000. The survivors were herded onto reservations—America’s first concentration camps—with their movements and every aspect of their lives controlled by the government.

Slavery followed the same logic. The US Constitution’s three-fifths clause, its fugitive slave provision, and its extension of the slave trade enshrined white supremacy into the nation’s legal DNA. When the Confederacy lost the Civil War, no one thought that it would win the peace. Reconstruction’s promise of multiracial democracy was drowned in blood with 2,000 Black people lynched in the decade after the Confederacy’s surrender at Appomattox. Black Codes morphed into Jim Crow laws, and the Supreme Court blessed the concept of “separate but equal” in Plessy v. Ferguson.

The monuments to the Civil War and Confederate generals told the story. They were not erected in the years immediately after 1865 to mourn the fallen. They rose in the first two decades of the 20th Century and then again, in subsequent decades and between 1954 and 1968, precisely when the white supremacist elites and the racist infrastructure they had built felt threatened. The United Daughters of the Confederacy erected more than 400 statues, each one a warning that Black advancement in the US will be met with terror. When Brown v. Board of Education struck down school segregation in 1954, legislatures in the US south answered with massive resistance and a fresh wave of Confederate memorials. The message was the same—this is white man’s country and Black Americans shouldn’t expect to be part of top tiers of society or expect to achieve the “American dream.”

The truth is that the racist foundation of American society never crumbled after the Civil War. They remained intact and those who benefitted from it adapted. The racists became sheriffs, mayors, governors and senators, and the logic of white supremacy changed shape but never lost its grip. Mass incarceration of Blacks replaced slavery on plantations. The war on drugs replaced the Ku Klux Klan’s targeting of Black people. And economic policies and local ordinances that kept Black Americans from achieving their full potential, replaced Jim Crow laws. The result has been that by 2025, the United States imprisons more people than any nation in history, who are disproportionately Black and racialized.

Enter Donald Trump into the political arena in 2015. He did not invent American fascism or racism, but he did use the foundations that had been laid by others to advance his agenda. And he was unapologetic about saying the unspeakable out loud. When he began his presidential campaign he called Mexican immigrants “rapists”. In 2017 he equated neo-Nazis with counter-protesters, saying there were “good people” on both sides during the white supremacist Charlottesville protests. In 2024 he vowed “retribution” against political enemies if he became president, even suggesting he would use the military. His former chief of staff, John Kelly—a former Marine four-star general—called out Trump’s policies as fascist during the 2024 presidential campaign, saying that he would rule like a fascist if re-elected. Thirteen other former Trump officials signed an open letter backing Kelley’s criticism of Trump.

Nine months into Trump’s second presidential term fascism is no longer an imagined threat, it is real and it poses a legitimate threat to American democracy. In his first 100 days, Trump invoked emergency powers to impose tariffs on every nation on earth, citing “fentanyl” and “trade deficits” as pretexts. Average taxes on imports soared to 18 percent—higher than any time since the Great Depression. Car prices jumped $4,700 overnight; grocery staples followed. Economists warned of a “fiscal folly” that would shrink GDP by 1.3 percent and cost the average American household $1,200 annually. Yet the administration celebrates the billions flowing into federal coffers, money that will likely be used to fund suppression of constitutional rights and civil liberties.

Speaking of suppression, it’s already spreading across the US in the form of crackdowns on illegal immigrants and anti-genocide protesters. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have become Trump’s Gestapo, disappearing hundreds of undocumented immigrants and legal protesters, sending some to a jungle jail in El Salvador, while threatening to deport others for their Palestinian activism to nations like Rwanda. Trump has also threatened to strip birthright citizenship by fiat and has declared transgender identities “invalid.” Additionally, billions in federal funding has been withheld from universities that refuse to purge diversity, equity and inclusion programs from their curriculum, and banned-word lists have circulated in government agencies, with threats of firing if they are included in government websites and documents. The Justice Department has also deployed election monitors to Democratic Party strongholds, citing unproven election fraud.

This is textbook fascism. A cult of the leader, a mythology of national humiliation, a promise of rebirth through violence and purity. Trump’s rhetoric—threats to annex Canada, seize Greenland, retake the Panama Canal, suspend the Constitution—echoes Benito Mussolini’s imperial fantasies. Trump’s allies speak openly of a third presidential term in violation of the 22nd amendment, martial law, and the suspension of elections. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump’s favour that presidents enjoy broad criminal immunity for actions taken in office, has emboldened him further.

Yet Tuesday’s elections prove the rot is not total. In city halls and statehouses, the victories show that a multiracial, multi-faith coalition of people from all socio-economic backgrounds can push back against fascist elements in the US. Mamdani quoted American socialist Eugene Debs in his victory speech. Spanberger pledged to shield Virginia from federal overreach. Sherrill vowed to “solve problems, not manage them.” While Hashmi promised leadership that “lifts people up.”

These victories are not the end, they are the beginning of new movement, because fascism advances when good people normalize the unthinkable. Germany did not fall to the Nazis in a single night. It fell in a thousand small surrenders over a period of years, and the US stands at the same precipice now. To prevent what happened to German from taking hold in the US, Americans must follow Germany’s post-World War Two example. It must enshrine in public memory the racist and genocidal history of the US, and implement laws that make it unrepeatable. It must criminalize racist and fascist symbols like the Confederate flag, which must be banned from public spaces. The true history of American history must be taught in every classroom. In addition, the debt owed to Indigenous nations and descendants of the enslaved must be paid, because reparations are key to healing the national soul.

The voters in the 2025 off-year election have shown the path. They looked into the abyss and said, “Not here. Not now. Not ever.” The question is whether a majority of Americans are willing to follow, or whether they will let the euphoria of a decisive victory fade and then go back to business as usual. American must realize that they are running out of time as the fascist menace grows, but Tuesday proved that change is possible.

The future of the US is in the hands of those who are willing to do as Mamdani and his followers did, and push back against the establishment. They have already told them their time is over, and it’s time for a new generation of progressives and social democrats to lead the way. If America is to be saved from those who have brought the country to the precipice those who rallied to support progressive and left wing candidates like Mamdani need to organize and launch a national movement led by people like the new mayor of New York City and others who share his vision of what could be achieved if they commit to political change.

© 2025 The View From Here. © 2025 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.

Canada needs to wake up to the Nazi reality in American politics, particularly in the Republican Party

Canada has always been the polite counterpoint to American bombast, but politeness won’t suffice against fascism. We must roar our defiance, and defend our democracy . . .

  

By Fareed Khan

A version of this article can be found on Substack.

A week ago, the American magazine POLITICO broke a story that should demonstrate how far along the United States is to becoming a full-fledged fascist state along the lines of Nazi Germany. From our vantage point here in Canada, watching the inexorable slide of our southern neighbour into authoritarian darkness feels less like distant history and more like a gathering storm on the horizon. A storm that echoes the lead up to America’s entry into World War Two, when Nazi sympathizers were to be found in every major city and town across the United States. Today those Nazis and supporters of fascism are to be found across the breadth of Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

The leaked Telegram messages from a private chat among Young Republican leaders—spanning 2,900 pages of unfiltered venom—reveal not just racism and bigotry, but the fetid and rotten core of a party that has fully embraced the ideology of hatred, supremacy, and violence that once defined Adolf Hitler’s regime. These are not fringe voices. They are the groomed successors to Trump’s MAGA movement, openly praising Hitler, joking about gas chambers, celebrating rape, and spewing Islamophobia, antisemitism, and anti-Black racism. If this isn’t a reincarnation of Germany’s Nazi Party in the US, then what is?

Canada’s Vulnerable Position

As Canadians, we have long prided ourselves on our multicultural mosaic, our commitment to inclusive democracy, and our polite distance from the ideological excesses south of the border. But the POLITICO revelations force a reckoning. The Republican Party’s fascist turn isn’t just an American tragedy—it’s a direct threat to Canadian sovereignty, the values that a majority of Canadians hold dear, and a way of life distinct from that in the US. These Young Republicans, including state chairs, national committee members, a state senator, and even staffers in Trump’s administration, didn’t stumble into this cancerous abyss. They were cultivated there, watered by a decade of Trump’s fascist demagoguery, which has normalized the unthinkable. From the halls of power in Washington to the chat rooms of the party’s youth wing, the Republican Party has become a machine for creating Nazis, and Canada must now confront the spill over—fascist sympathizers in our own backyard, whispering dreams of annexation by the US, and undermining Canadian society and its institutions. If the US is the new Third Reich, then Canada is Austria on the eve of the Anschluss (annexation) —vulnerable, interconnected, and in desperate need of a military defence plan to preserve Canadian sovereignty and democracy.

The Republican Party’s Descent Into a Culture of Hatred

The leaked chats, obtained by POLITICO and spanning seven months from January to August 2025, paint a portrait of depravity that echoes the early days of the Nazi ascent in 1930s Germany. Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans and a onetime chief of staff to a state assemblyman, didn’t mince words. “I love Hitler,” he texted, in a message that landed like a gut punch to anyone familiar with the Holocaust’s horrors. His colleagues piled on with Holocaust “jokes,” musing about “fixing the showers” to make them more “Hitler aesthetic” and threatening to send political opponents to gas chambers. Joe Maligno, who once listed himself as general counsel for the New York group, quipped, “Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic,” while Annie Kaykaty, a national committee member, added, “I’m ready to watch people burn now.” This isn’t “edgy humour” as some apologists might claim. It’s the casual dehumanization that paved the way for Kristallnacht and the Wannsee Conference, where Nazis plotted mass murder on an industrialized scale, connected to the political party that controls all three branches of the US federal government.

Racism courses through these messages like electricity through the power grid. William Hendrix, vice chair of the Kansas Young Republicans and an employee in the office of Attorney General Kris Kobach, unleashed the n-word more than a dozen times, calling Black people “monkeys” and “watermelon people.” Bobby Walker, then vice chair in New York, declared rape “epic,” while the group fantasized about sexual violence against rivals and praised Republicans they believed supported slavery. Islamophobia and antisemitism intertwined with anti-Black slurs, as Giunta warned that if your pilot is “a she and she looks ten shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there. Scream the no no word.” They invoked white supremacist codes like “1488“—a neo-Nazi shorthand for support of white supremacy and “Heil Hitler”—and lauded Trump for allegedly suppressing the Epstein files, with one member joking, “Trump’s too busy burning the Epstein files.” POLITICO tallied 251 uses of slurs like the f-word (dehumanizing gays), r-word (dehumanizing those with intellectual disabilities), the and n-word (racism against Black people), alongside homophobic rants and dreams of “driving [enemies] to suicide.”

America’s Response: Denial and Deflection

Public reaction has been a mix of horror and deflection, but the damning truth is that this is no anomaly—it’s the bloom of seeds sown by Trump himself. On X (formerly Twitter), voices from across the spectrum erupted in response to the POLITICO story. Don Winslow, the bestselling author, called it “everything we suspected but now have proof,” sharing the POLITICO link to over 70,000 views. Jon Cooper, a prominent Democratic strategist, highlighted the gas chamber jokes, urging, “Name and shame every last one.” Tim Wise, a leading anti-racism educator, declared, “This is who they are. All of them. Either outright bigots or people who think bigotry is funny,” amassing hundreds of likes and reposts. Even within the GOP, cracks appeared: New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who once praised Giunta’s “tremendous leadership,” now demands resignations, though her flip-flop reeks of damage control. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott called for state Sen. Sam Douglass’s immediate ouster from the party, labelling the rhetoric “inexcusable.” The Young Republican National Federation condemned the “vile and inexcusable language,” but as Axios reported, their demand for resignations feels hollow when the chat’s architect, Giunta, was a contender for national chair just months ago.

The White House’s response? A shrug. Vice President J.D. Vance downplayed it as “pearl clutching,” while a spokesperson insisted Trump’s rhetoric bears no relation—despite the obvious lineage from his “very fine people” defence of the Charlottesville neo-Nazis to these Hitler fanboys. TIME magazine noted that the chats reveal a “culture” in Trump’s Republican Party where bigotry feels “less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party’s next leaders.” Al Jazeera framed it as a “GOP storm,” with participants losing jobs while the party’s fascist undercurrent was left unscathed. The Guardian called it “so vile it’s hard to find the words,” quoting New York Gov. Kathy Hochul: “These are the future of the Republican party.” And in The New Republic, the verdict was blunt, noting that it was “teeming with “racism, antisemitism, rape jokes, and other filth.”

Trump’s Nazi Playbook

Trump’s policies mirror Hitler’s early playbook—mass deportations targeting immigrants and racial minorities, evoking the Nuremberg Laws’ exclusion of “undesirables.” His expansion of ICE into a Gestapo-like secret police—abducting and detaining Americans without charge—recalls the Gestapo’s midnight raids where dissenters and critics were taken to prisons to be tortured, or put into concentration camps. Threats to deploy the military against “sanctuary” cities and states opposing him? That’s straight out of the Nazi Enabling Act, Hitler’s tool to crush dissent. The Republican Party, once the party of Lincoln, has devolved into a fascist entity mimicking 1930s Germany and the Nazi Party with its cult of personality, scapegoating minorities, and eroding democratic norms. As The Week observed, these chats show a “loosening of political norms” that makes cruelty acceptable. If the US is now controlled by this beast, America in 2025 looks eerily like Deutschland in 1933—book burnings reimagined as elimination of “fake news”, loyalty purges, and Republican political rallies as Nuremberg style spectacles.

Canada’s Internal Threat: The Conservative Party’s Fascist Drift

But here’s the part that should really concern us in The Great White North—fascism doesn’t respect borders. In Canada, we have our own insidious elements—the far-right agitators, the convoy conspiracy theorists, the far-right and fascist online trolls echoing MAGA bile—who embrace this ideology. Groups like the Canadian Nationalist Party and figures in the People’s Party of Canada flirt with white nationalism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism, often importing rhetoric straight from Trump’s playbook, which echoes Hitler. Recent X posts from Canadian users amplify the Young Republicans’ rot, with one lamenting the “smear” while defending “edgy comments” as prophetic against “leftist” violence. The Freedom Convoy’s legacy lingers, with those who stormed Parliament Hill in 2022 waved Confederate and swastika flags, and spouted QAnon fever dreams, now evolving into calls for “taking back” Canada from “globalists.”

These people aren’t harmless eccentrics. They’re working to erode the Charter rights of Canadians, sow division, and prepare the ground for authoritarianism. As Moneycontrol noted in covering the leak, such “hate-filled messages” normalize fascism globally, and Canada—with its proximity to the US and shared media ecosystem—isn’t immune. We should be afraid, but we can’t be paralyzed by fear. Vigilance means exposing these networks, bolstering hate-crime laws, and educating against the poison seeping in from the south.

Worse still, this fascist creep has infiltrated the heart of our politics. The Conservative Party of Canada, which under Pierre Poilievre’s leadership has morphed into a white supremacist and fascism-friendly force, echoes Trump, and as a result, fuels the rising tide of extremism on the political right wing in Canada. Poilievre’s adoption of “Canada First” as a slogan isn’t just a nod to Trump’s “America First” agenda—it’s a direct parallel to white nationalist ideologies that prioritize ethnic purity, right wing nationalism and exclusion, as Ricochet Media has warned, potentially serving as a gateway to overt racism and authoritarianism.

Over the last two years, Poilievre has built up to pushing fascist-tinged messaging in policy proposals that scapegoat immigrants and minorities, much like the Young Republicans’ venom. On immigration, he has called for “very hard caps,” negative net migration, and deportations for “lawbreaking” for those on temporary visas, tying inflows to housing affordability in rhetoric that vilifies newcomers as burdens on overburdened systems. This mirrors Trump’s mass deportation threats and stokes xenophobic fears that embolden far-right elements in Canadian society. The NDP has slammed this as “divisive rhetoric” that rejects diversity’s economic benefits, accusing Poilievre of channelling “right-wing, American-style” politics to erode hard-won rights. As The Breach reports, this anti-immigrant turn not only shifts Canadians rightward but amplifies openly racist groups, turning immigration into a wedge for white supremacist and infiltration of Conservative ranks.

Poilievre’s stance on Israel further cements this fascist alignment, as he offers unwavering support for Israel’s fascist government as it commits genocide against Palestinians in Gaza—labelling anti-genocide protests “hate marches” and “support for Hamas”, in a chilling echo of Nazi-era suppression of dissent. On the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation in January 2025, Poilievre praised Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has killed over 75,000 Palestinians (more than 377,000 and 680,000 according to two recent studies), while vowing to deport temporary residents for protesting genocide, which he has labelled “antisemitic hate crimes.” This is rhetoric that weaponizes Holocaust memory to justify ethnic cleansing abroad and suppressing solidarity at home. The Maple describes this as a “war on Palestine solidarity,” with Poilievre dismissing Palestinian suffering as Hamas’s fault and refusing to acknowledge the ICJ’s plausible genocide finding, instead blaming Iran and promising to defund UNRWA. Al Jazeera calls him a “Zionist zealot” whose attacks on pro-Palestinian demonstrations as “hate rallies” fuel Islamophobia, much like Trump’s demonization of Muslims. In October 2024, Poilievre was even silenced in Parliament for accusing Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly of “pandering to Hamas supporters” over her calls to condemn protest chants, demanding she denounce “genocidal chants from hateful mobs.” This isn’t statesmanship; it’s fascist signalling that connects the Conservative Party directly to a fascist government abroad, and to rising right-wing extremism in Canada, where convoy-style radicals and white nationalists see Poilievre as Canada’s Donald Trump.

Defending Democracy Against Fascism

If the today’s US embodies Nazi Germany, then Canada must consider itself as Austria in March 1938—rich and cultured, but perilously adjacent to fascism’s grasp. Hitler’s Anschluss was sold as “reunification” of ethnic kin, much like the creeping narrative from Trump and his supporters who view Canada as the “51st state,” ripe for absorption. Trump’s offhand musings about annexing Greenland and Canada, coupled with MAGA fantasies of a North American empire under US hegemony, aren’t jokes—they’re trial balloons. Our economies are intertwined, our militaries aligned via NORAD, our populations linked by culture and trade. A fascist US wouldn’t need tanks to swallow Canada. It could use economic coercion, disinformation campaigns, or stoke border tensions over migrants fleeing Trump’s purges. Already, Canadian far-right groups parrot calls for “America First” policies here, undermining our sovereignty by idolizing Trump as a model for Poilievre or other conservatives.

Canada’s Path Forward

To defend our democracy, Canada must act decisively. First by fortifying institutions, like investing in independent media to counter US-style Fox News clones, strengthening the CRTC against foreign propaganda, and enhancing Elections Canada against interference. Second, Canada must build and strengthen alliances, by deepening ties with the EU and Commonwealth nations as a bulwark against American isolationist fascism. Third, the Canadian government must educate ruthlessly by mandating genocide and fascism studies in schools, and launch public campaigns demystifying fascist tactics, from the Young Republicans’ chat rooms to the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. And finally, Canada must prepare militarily and economically by bolstering defence, diversifying trade beyond the US, and affirming our neutrality in any American civil strife. As ABC News reported on the GOP fallout, even Republicans are calling for resignations, meaning this is our moment to isolate the disease before it spreads.

The Young Republicans’ Hitler worship isn’t a glitch. It’s the feature of a party that has lost its soul, and poses a danger to American democracy and to Canada. As the swastika’s shadow lengthens from Washington, it should terrify us, for the sake of Canadian democracy and for the sake of our children’s future. Canada has always been the polite counterpoint to American bombast, but politeness won’t suffice against fascism. We must roar our defiance, and defend our democracy with the ferocity of those who stormed Normandy beaches, and remind the world that we will not be annexed, we will not be silenced, and we will not let the ghosts of 1938 haunt 2025. The US may be marching to a fascist drum, but Canada will beat a different rhythm—one of inclusion, resilience, and unyielding freedom.

© 2025 The View From Here. © 2025 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.

Who is Zohran Mamdani? A primer on the man creating a political earthquake in New York and beyond

What Mamdani has created isn't just a campaign team but a movement unseen in the city in generations.  He is charismatic, straightforward, funny, sincere, and can connect with voters on the issues. 

By Fareed Khan

A version of this article can be found on Substack.

As a Canadian, you may not have heard of Zohran Mamdani. If not here is a little primer on the man who could be New York City's first Muslim mayor on November 20th, and the political star of his generation.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the Democratic Party candidate for mayor of New York City, at just 33 years old, represents the fresh, unapologetic energy that New York City desperately needs—a city buckling under skyrocketing costs, growing inequality, and a political establishment that has long favoured the interests of billionaires over those of everyday people.

Born in Kampala, Uganda, to an Indian family with deep roots in scholarship and filmmaking, Mamdani embodies the immigrant dream that has always defined New York. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a noted academic of Gujarati Muslim descent, born in Mumbai, India and raised in Uganda. While his mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning filmmaker of movies such as Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding, and hails from a Punjabi Hindu background in Odisha, India. This interfaith heritage, blending Muslim, Hindu, and African influences, has instilled in Mamdani a profound ability to bridge divides and connect with diverse communities.

Moving to New York at age seven after a brief stint in South Africa, Mamdani grew up in the city's public school system, graduating from the Bronx High School of Science and earned a degree in African Studies from Bowdoin College. His Iranian origins through his father's Muslim heritage—tied to the broader South Asian diaspora that includes Persian influences—further enriches his perspective, allowing his campaign style to resonate with immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and beyond who are part of New York's vibrant cultural mosaic. As the first Muslim candidate to win a major party's nomination for mayor in the city's history, Mamdani's rise is not just personal triumph but a beacon for Muslims, immigrants, visible minorities, and all marginalized groups who see in him a leader who understands their struggles intimately.

What sets Mamdani apart from other politicians is his focussed vision to make New York City affordable again, particularly for the working class that has been crushed by decades of neglect. Running under the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) banner while securing the Democratic primary nomination, he has pledged to raise the city's minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030. This is a bold move to ensure working New Yorkers can live with dignity rather than scraping by. He wants to freeze rents on all rent stabilized units in the city, preventing the displacement of families in a city where nearly a quarter of residents in his assembly district spend half their income on housing. In addition, he is proposing free city buses to ease the commute for millions reliant on public transit, provide universal childcare allowing parents to work without fear of bankruptcy, and even city-run grocery stores in each borough to combat "halalflation" and food deserts that prey on low-income neighborhoods.

These aren't pie-in-the-sky ideas but ones that are rooted in Mamdani's legislative record as a member of the New York state assembly, where he secured over $100 million for increased subway service, a fare-free bus pilot program, and participated in a hunger-strike alongside taxi drivers to win $450 million in debt relief for taxi owners. He plans to fund his programs through progressive taxation—hiking corporate taxes to 11.5% to match New Jersey's, adding a 2% income tax on millionaires to generate $20 billion for tuition-free attendance at the City University of New York and State University of New York, and shifting property taxes from overtaxed outer-borough homeowners to luxury homes in wealthier areas.

For the working class, this will mean real relief—200,000 new affordable, union-built homes over 10 years, fully funded public schools with green retrofits to combat climate change, and a Department of Community Safety that invests in violence prevention without gutting the NYPD. Despite what his detractors claim, Mamdani's platform isn't about handouts, it's about reclaiming a city for its people, echoing the legacy of the city's public housing pioneers while addressing modern crises like the housing shortage that has left 400,000 New York Cith Housing Authority tenants in disrepair.

In a broader sense, Mamdani's policies speak directly to the bread-and-butter issues that working and middle-class families face every day—childcare, and rents that drain pocketbooks and force people to make tough choices between essentials. As a Canadian, we might recognize these struggles all too well—the squeeze on affordability in cities like Toronto or Vancouver, where housing prices have soared beyond the reach of many and investment in public transit has failed to keep up with population growth.

Whether it's in the US or Canada, politicians hoping to lead cities, provinces/states, or the country should look to Mamdani as an example of how politics should be done. When one compares Canadian leaders to Mamdani the vast majority of our leaders fall short. We deserve politicians like Mamdani, who has prioritized these pocketbook concerns over corporate interests in his campaign, and promises to deliver tangible relief through a bold, people-first agenda.

For the last two generations Canada has been devoid of mayors, premiers, or prime ministers who can connect with average voters in the way Mamdani can, and who seem sincere about addressing their issues. The only exception might be Calgary’s former mayor Naheed Nenshi, who came out of nowhere to defeat a sitting councillor and held the post for a decade. However, what we see in the approach of Canadian politicians generally is not surprising given how many of them prioritize trade deals over affordable housing, or elite tax cuts over programs that benefit the vast majority. Mamdani shows that sincerity in action, proving that a leader can galvanize change by focusing on what truly matters to the working class, the people who make society function.

Mamdani's ability to galvanize broad support across the boroughs of New York City is historic, drawing crowds and volunteers in numbers unseen in many election cycles. His primary election victory on June 24, 2025, saw him defeat former New York governor Andrew Cuomo 56% to 44% in ranked-choice voting, despite Cuomo's $35 million war chest and backing from moneyed elites and New York City billionaires. It was a stunning upset fuelled by over 50,000 volunteers knocking on a million doors and 20,000 small donors, the most since 2001. Polls now show him leading the general election field with 43%-46% support against Cuomo (24%-28%), Republican Curtis Sliwa (10-15%), and scandal-plagued incumbent Eric Adams (6-9%), a margin that widens among young voters and those prioritizing affordability.

What Mamdani has created isn't just a campaign team but a movement unseen in the city in generations.  His charisma, straightforwardness, humour, sincere personality, and ability to communicate clearly on the issues important to the city’s voters, has mobilized millennials, Gen Z, and working families, from viral social media videos on "halalflation" to town halls with Senator Bernie Sanders railing against the oligarchy that has controlled New York City for decades. Endorsements from unions like the New York City Central Labor Council, representing over a million workers, underscore his appeal to organized labour, promising a "100% union city" where economic growth benefits everyone. In a city weary of recycled and bought politicians, Mamdani's grassroots surge—flipping even Trump-voting neighbourhoods—signals a rejection of the status quo, much like Fiorello La Guardia's progressive era but updated for today's crises.

Charismatic politicians like Mamdani who can connect with voters only come along once in a generation. His ability to inspire, to turn frustration into action, and to connect on a human level hasn't been seen in New York for decades. He's not just running on policy, he's building a coalition that has drawn in young people, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, the LGBTQ2 community, working families and others who feel ignored by the establishment that has run New York City for decades. In an era of deep political cynicism this generational appeal is what makes his candidacy so electric.  His campaign has reminded voters that leadership can be both visionary and relatable, a rare blend that could redefine urban governance, as others look at his campaign as a case study on how to connect with disaffected voters who feel they have no real voice in a political system that is broken.

Yet, this historic candidacy hasn't come without fierce opposition. Mamdani's detractors—led by Cuomo, Adams, and billionaire-backed super PACs—have unleashed a barrage of smear campaigns, designed to tarnish his reputation and stoke fear. President Trump labeled him a "100% communist lunatic," while right-wing figures called for his deportation and denaturalization, falsely claiming he's not a true citizen despite being naturalized in 2018. Islamophobic attacks against him have flooded social media, with doctored images exaggerating his beard and skin tone to portray him as a "terrorist," and mailers accusing him of participating in "global jihad" or ties to Hamas—claims debunked as baseless yet amplified by outlets like the New York Post and even some Democrats like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Critics dredge up his past DSA affiliations to paint him as anti-police, citing 2020 calls to "defund the NYPD" (which he now clarifies as reallocating funds for community safety, not cuts) and support for decriminalizing sex work.

Pro-Israel groups like the Anti-Defamation League have twisted his criticism of Israel's criminal actions in Gaza—calling it apartheid and genocide—into accusations of antisemitism, despite his endorsements from Jewish leaders like Comptroller Brad Lander and rabbis from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), who praise his commitment to fighting hate crimes against all communities. These attacks, often laced with racist tropes about the "cheerful brown man" threatening the establishment, reveal more about the fear of change than any real threat from Mamdani, who has consistently affirmed Israel's right to exist as a secular state with equal rights for all. Even within his party, figures like New York governor Kathy Hochul withheld endorsements until recently, pressured by billionaire donors panicking over his tax plans. But New Yorkers have seen through the noise. Polls show 37% believe a socialist mayor would be good for the city, rejecting the fear mongering.

Mamdani's Iranian-influenced roots and multicultural upbringing give him unparalleled ability to connect with minority communities, including immigrants, Blacks, Jews and LGBTQ2 individuals, fostering unity in a divided city. As a Muslim, he has galvanized immigrant and Muslim voters by pledging legal representation for all in detention and enforcing sanctuary city laws, drawing massive turnout from South Asian, Middle Eastern, and African neighbourhoods. His cross-endorsement with Jewish Comptroller Brad Lander—urging voters to rank each other second—built a powerful Jewish-Muslim alliance, with Mamdani winning significant Jewish support (polling second among Jewish voters) through commitments to combat antisemitism and fund hate crime prevention. An endorsement by 38 Rabbis and JFREJ members, hailing him as a "Jewish act" of justice, embraced his plans to protect synagogues and promote interfaith dialogue.

For LGBTQ2 communities, Mamdani proposes making NYC a full sanctuary city with an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, funding gender-affirming care, and addressing homelessness tied to identity—policies that align with his universal affordability agenda, ensuring no one is left behind. Even conservative mosques have warmed to him for his economic focus, overlooking differences on issues like marijuana legalization because his vision unites working people across socio-economic lines. This broad coalition—from Black voters in Harlem to Asian communities in Chinatown—has propelled his campaign, proving that Mamdani's empathy transcends labels. His support among Jewish voters, for instance, stands at a 17-point lead over his opponents in recent polls, a testament to his genuine outreach and rejection of divisive smears.

If Mamdani wins in November, as current polling indicates, his victory won't just be a win for New Yorkers, it will be a seismic shift for immigrants, Muslims, and all who identify with his story of resilience and inclusion across the US and beyond. In a city where one in three residents is foreign-born, his pledge to fight Trump's deportation machine and expand immigrant services will aim to provide hope to millions facing ICE raids and family separations. For Muslims, long sidelined by post-9/11 suspicion, a Mamdani mayoralty would signal that their voices matter, countering rampant Islamophobia with policies that protect mosques and promote cultural equity. New York’s Jews—the largest Jewish diaspora community outside Israel—are realizing that he is an ally against rising hate, as evidenced by his alliances and plans to boost funding for all faith-based security initiatives. Members of New York’s LGBTQ2 community, from Pride marchers to Trans youth, will benefit from his sanctuary city expansions and anti-discrimination blueprint, making the city a true haven for diverse communities. And for working-class minorities across the board—Black, Latino, Asian, etc.—his affordability initiatives will mean homes they can afford, jobs with living wages, and a government that finally prioritizes people over the interests of the city's rich. A Mamdani win would echo globally, the way Sadiq Khan's victory in London did, inspiring marginalized communities from Toronto to Kuala Lumpur. It would signal that bold, inclusive leadership can triumph over entrenched power.

For Canadians, who are watching the race in New York closely, it's a reminder that the fight for equity transcends borders.  Mamdani's model of addressing pocketbook issues with sincerity could inspire some Canadian politicians to reinvigorate our own politics, where leaders have too often failed to connect with the average voter on the things that matter most.

Mamdani's candidacy is historic because it challenges the very foundations of American urban politics.  A socialist, Muslim, immigrant son rising against billionaire-backed political machines in the world's financial capital. Despite attacks and smears from Trump, Cuomo, and their allies—accusations of communism, antisemitism, and extremism that have only backfired, as New Yorkers rally to his side—he has proven that authenticity and vision win out. With endorsements pouring in, from Gov. Kathy Hochul to unions and progressives, his path to victory is slowly being cleared of hurdles.

Come election night in November, Mamdani could usher in a new political era in New York and be a shining example of how to overcome cynicism in politics, and do things in a way that brings those who haven't seen their interests represented in politics into an expanding tent.  A Mamdani victory would open the doors on a city where the working class, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQ2 folks, and all minorities stand taller, because they would have a vested interest in his success as mayor. In all of this observers outside New York should understand that Mamdani’s campaign is not just a race to be mayor, it's a revolution for inclusion and dignity for the vast majority whose interests are too often overlooked by political elites. 

Canadian politicians should watch closely should Mamdani make history, and adopt his strategies on creating winning campaigns that make voters want to vote for someone rather than against candidates who are seen as the greater "evil".  His political star is just beginning to rise, and as a possible future mayor he would be a prime example and object lesson on what a good politician should be. In an age where we see very few candidates like Zohran Mamdani, his example urges us all to demand more of our political leaders, and demand that they follow the example of someone who seems to truly care about the bottom 95% of voters who comprise the working and middle class.  It’s time for all of us to demand that people who run for public office exude sincerity and follow through on their promises, something we've been missing for far too long, but something we all deserve.

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