Remember “affordability” mania?

The time was 2025. A young, charismatic democratic socialist candidate for New York City mayor named Zohran Mamdani became a viral sensation. His secret? “Affordability.”

Ask him about almost anything and he’d turn the conversation to affordability. When a reporter asked Mamdani to respond to President Trump’s claim that he was the better-looking politician, Mamdani responded, “My focus is on the cost-of-living crisis, bro.” Queried about whether Hamas, the terrorist organization, should disarm, he began with “I believe that any future here in New York City is one that we have to make sure that’s affordable for all.”

Mamdani won the election, and pretty much everyone agreed that “affordability” was the key that unlocked City Hall.

“Affordability” was “the mantra that carried” Mamdani to victory, proclaimed Vox. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and political strategists like David Axelrod, James Carville and Waleed Shahid all agreed. As Shahid put it, “Zohran cracked the code so many Democrats are searching for: laser-focus on affordability … this is a playbook.”

All this annoyed Trump,........

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