Zohran Mamdani has responded to 50 Cent's criticism of his plans for tax policy if he becomes the next mayor of New York City. Appearing on MSNBC's The Beat to speak with Ari Melber on Monday, Mamdani addressed the rapper's viral concerns.
“He’s a critic!” Mamdani said. “I didn’t even know what my salary would be until I opened up Instagram and saw this thing that was like, ’50 Cent offers Mamdani x-amount of money.’ I was like, ‘That’s a very specific amount of money. Oh my god!'”
“I continue to think that having the top one percent of New York City, who are making more than one million dollars a year, having them pay two percent more for an economic agenda that would transform every New Yorkers’ life, including their own, is something that is worth while," he reaffirmed. “The reason I say including their own is when you see a city like ours that is underfunding its city agencies, that is pulling back on the most basic things like library services and trash cans, everybody feels the effects of that. And my job, as somebody who cares deeply about the public sector, is to ensure we are delivering public excellence and that means every dollar we raise, I want to be able to prove to you that every dollar is being well spent.”
Mamdani concluded by joking: "And even though we have a disagreement, every time I get a death threat, I still listen to ‘Many Men.'”
50's criticism of Mamdani began after an appearance on The Breakfast Club, during which the Democratic nominee explained his plan to raise corporate taxes and impose an extra two percent tax on the top one percent of New Yorkers.
Election Day 2025
Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. Results for the New York City mayoral race are expected to start coming in around 9:00 PM, ET. Zohran Mamdani has centered his platform around making New York City affordable for all of its residents. This includes free buses, universal childcare, city-owned grocery stores, and a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments.
In the race, he's running against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom he previously beat in the Democratic primary. He's also competing with the Republican Party nominee, Curtis Sliwa.
