O’Reilly: ‘I believe that Mamdani is a communist’

State Watch O’Reilly: ‘I believe that Mamdani is a communist’ Comments: by Ashleigh Fields - 07/09/26 10:53 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ashleigh Fields - 07/09/26 10:53 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Commentator Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday said he believes that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is a “communist,” echoing claims shared by President Trump, Republicans and some Democrats.

“I believe that Mandani is a communist. You don’t freeze rents across the board unless you want to control where people live. You just don’t,” O’Reilly said during a Wednesday evening appearance on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”

“Now, the affordability thing. So Trump’s point of view is this: OK, it’s tight times for many Americans, but there’s only so much the federal government can do about that,” he added.

Mamdani has gained a growing national audience due to his status as a democratic socialist in charge of the nation’s largest city and his endorsement of policies that span from rent freezes to city-run grocery stores and free childcare.

Critics have said that his policies are too ambitious and impossible to enact in his capacity as mayor.

Those to the right of Mamdani often make no distinction between his socialism, which seeks to use the levers of government to reduce economic inequality and expand social services, and communism, which seeks the abolition of private ownership and the creation of a classless society.

O’Reilly said he’s opposed to the idea of adopting an economic model different from capitalism, citing the benefits of no caps on private wealth.

“If you have $1,000, and that’s all you have, OK, for a medical emergency or your kids in trouble or whatever it may be, if you have a grant and you’ve been working, what, 10, 15 years someplace, whose fault is that?” O’Reilly said on Wednesday.

“That’s your fault, OK, because there is a way to accumulate assets in this country. That’s called capitalism,” he added.

He noted that he’s been working and saving since a young age to ensure a stable life.

“Since I’m 10 years old, I worked. And my father, in one of the pieces of advice he gave me, probably the only one I ever took, was every time you get a paycheck, you save 10 percent of it. And then you buy into the capitalistic system by stocks and bonds. And I have done that,” O’Reilly said.

“And the stock market, as everybody knows, has enriched a lot of people. Now, 58 percent of Americans have stock. The rest don’t. But again, whose fault is that?” he asked.

Around 58 percent of U.S. adults own stock, either directly or through mutual funds and retirement accounts like a 401(k) or IRA. However, this ownership is heavily skewed: while a majority of Americans have market exposure, the wealthiest 10 percent of households hold the vast majority — roughly 87 percent — of all U.S. equities, The Motley Fool reported.

Republican strategist Steve Bannon has warned that the imbalance of wealth will skew power towards democratic socialists in the coming years if there’s not a shift elsewhere, as 95 percent of Americans say the country is in an affordability crisis.

O’Reilly told anchor Chris Cuomo the affordability crisis “it is an emotional issue, that it’s real.”

“People are suffering, and that’s not going to help the Republican Party. It will not,” he added.