Mamdani holds 58% approval as Post runs 29 stories on him in three days

Mamdani approval climbs as Post publishes dozens of critical stories weekly

Six months into his term, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a 58% approval rating in a late June Siena University poll, with 26% of New Yorkers disapproving — figures that exceed the Democratic Party’s overall standing. The Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has published multiple pieces targeting Mamdani every day. From Monday to Wednesday of this week alone, the paper ran 29 stories tagged with the mayor’s name, covering his stance on Israel, his proposals for public supermarkets and increased school funding, the spelling of a police officer’s name, “ignoring Little Italy” on a map of immigrant neighborhoods, and his wife taking a holiday.

Ross Barkan, a columnist and author of the forthcoming book “The Revolutionary: Zohran Mamdani and the Remaking of American Politics,” who ran for New York state senate in 2018 with Mamdani as his campaign manager, said the tabloid has struggled to find a durable attack. Barkan said that with former Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Post “had one, and it was very straightforward: the feckless liberal who can’t govern the city, doesn’t care about the city, he’s too busy trying to burnish his national image, and no one takes him seriously.” He said they “got that, and they got that quickly. Mamdani isn’t like that.”

The Post’s pre-election warnings — that companies and millionaires would flee the city, that crime would soar, and that the city would declare bankruptcy — have not materialized, with data showing more offices leased in the first quarter of 2026 than the previous quarter.

“There is a real chance that it has met its match in Mamdani, that’s the shift here, and there’s never been a politician of his national stature and ability to combat the Post until he arrived on the scene,” Barkan said.

Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a media watchdog, described the Post’s approach as a “spaghetti against the wall strategy.” Carusone said that Mamdani has effectively blunted the paper’s influence by creating his own media distribution channels.

“Part of what gave the Post the edge is that they were able to sort of be the mainline right into the zeitgeist, and that’s the power of the tabloids,” Carusone said. “What Mamdani does is totally bypass that process. He has his own distribution system, his own ability to engage with the public. He doesn’t rely on a third-party system, he’s his own storyteller, and that is a really effective way of neutralizing the attacks.”

Carusone said the paper’s doomsday framing has become self-defeating. “The Post is basically saying it’s going to be a war zone, and yet people are not feeling that day to day. The vibes are actually pretty good, whether or not they’re credited to Mamdani.”

MSI previously reported that Mamdani-backed candidates swept Democratic primaries in June, and that the mayor marked the nation’s 250th birthday this month with a City Hall address. The three candidates he endorsed for Congress all won their primaries.

Barkan said the Post is still searching for an effective line. “While the New York Post is benefiting in terms of page views and interest, because they never run out of ways to attack him, the reality is they have not moved the needle politically against him,” he said. “They attack Mamdani every day, but the average New Yorker looks at some of their criticisms and rolls their eyes, because they’ve not yet found the talking point that sticks.”