Ever since New Yorkers elected Zohran Mamdani as their new mayor, social media has erupted with reactions, making #NewYork one of the top trending hashtags. Among the loudest voices online are MAGA supporters, who have launched a wave of criticism claiming that rising immigration and shifting demographics played a decisive role in Mamdani’s victory.
One of the posts gaining traction on X reflected the anger among conservative users. “New York elected a Muslim who supports aborting babies with a heartbeat, arms, fingers, and toes. Virginia elected a man who fantasised about killing conservatives and their babies. Violence is officially normalised in the Democrat Party. Pray for America,” the user wrote, capturing the tone of outrage spreading across right-wing circles online.
In recent posts on X, several users have pointed to raw figures and demographic shifts to illustrate what they see as an alarming trend. One thread by Matt Walsh declared, “A third world communist won in New York because New York is a third world city now. This is mass migration working exactly as intended.”
READ: Mamdani’s victory in New York a political earthquake (November 5, 2025)
In another post, William E. Wolfe wrote, “It’s incredibly important to understand that Mamdani was not actually elected mayor of the historic American city that we know as ‘New York’… And his election is not the beginning of the end for NYC—it’s a death certificate. Finally, it’s a reminder that everything right now inescapably comes back to immigration. If we don’t stop mass migration and accelerate deportations, denaturalisation, and remigration, this will happen over and over again until the United States is nothing more than a disparate conglomeration of Mumbais, Mogadishus, and Mexico Cities.”
Together, these posts exemplify how users are interweaving hard figures, such as the influx of immigrants, changes in the voter base, or the breakdown of longstanding majority voting blocs, with pointed rhetoric. They blame immigration and demographic turnover as direct causes of the Democrats’ surging electoral fortunes. The underlying message is that the Democratic Party, aided by immigration and demographic change, is consciously shifting the electorate in its favour. These users respond with alarm, positioning these changes as an existential threat to “traditional” American identity and the electoral fortunes of conservative voters.
Newly elected NYC mayor Mamdani’s victory speech has further fueled the discussion. One user reshared a clip, writing, “Mamdani: ‘New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.’”
Following Mamdani’s victory, X has been flooded with videos and images conveying a sense of doom among conservative users. One widely shared image declares, “RIP NYC: Founded 1624, Died 2025,” implying that the city’s identity has been irreversibly altered. Accompanying posts and videos lament the “death” of New York, framing Mamdani’s election as the final nail in the coffin for what they consider the city’s traditional culture and values. These visuals, often paired with sharp commentary against the Democratic Party and rising immigration, have become a central way for users to express outrage and grief online.
One user took the anti-immigration rhetoric even further, directly linking Mamdani’s win to the influence of foreign-born and female voters. He wrote, “Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race thanks to super-blocs created by women voters and foreign-born voters. Noticing patterns? We need our Gen Z native-born MEN to realise that now is their time to restore order and Christian Patriotism. Christ is King.” This post illustrates how some users are framing immigration and demographic change as a deliberate threat, urging young, native-born men to take political and cultural action in response.
Another user amplified the anti-immigration narrative, portraying Mamdani’s victory as a direct result of recent demographic shifts in the city. They shared a poll to reinforce their point, stating, “It turns out most Zohran Mamdani voters have lived in New York for less than 5 or 10 years. People born in New York overwhelmingly rejected him. They remember.” Across X, such posts repeatedly attack immigration and the influence of foreign-born residents, framing Mamdani’s win as evidence that newcomers are reshaping the city’s political landscape. For these users, the election becomes more than a political outcome. It is cast as a cultural upheaval, where long-standing New Yorkers feel sidelined by recent arrivals altering the city’s identity and values.
Taking the rhetoric even further, Gabe Guidarini, Vice President of College Republicans America, weighed in with a pointed historical jab, stating, “Demography is destiny. Thanks, Ronald Reagan!” By invoking Reagan, Guidarini linked current demographic changes and Mamdani’s victory to the long-term effects of the 1965 immigration reforms, suggesting that shifts in population composition were an inevitable factor shaping electoral outcomes today.
While the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act under President Lyndon B. Johnson reshaped U.S. immigration by prioritizing family reunification and ending Europe-centric quotas, Ronald Reagan’s 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act responded to the new realities that emerged from this shift. Reagan’s law offered amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants, introduced the nation’s first employer sanctions, and modestly strengthened border enforcement, effectively layering enforcement and legalization measures on top of the more open framework established two decades earlier. Together, the two acts set the stage for the modern U.S. immigration system, balancing legal pathways with regulatory oversight.
Key Points: Immigration Policy Changes (1965 vs. 1986)
1965 Immigration and Nationality Act (Hart–Celler Act) – Lyndon B. Johnson
● Ended the national origins quota system, which favored Northern and Western European immigrants.
● Prioritized family reunification and skilled immigrants.
● Opened U.S. immigration to Asia, Latin America, and Africa, significantly diversifying the immigrant population.
● Did not address illegal immigration or implement enforcement measures.
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) – Ronald Reagan
● Granted amnesty to approximately three million undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. since before 1982.
● Introduced employer sanctions, making it illegal to knowingly hire undocumented workers.
● Increased border enforcement modestly to curb further undocumented immigration.
● Responded to unintended consequences of the 1965 Act, especially rising illegal immigration.