Republicans have been gleeful this week over Zohran Mamdani‘s Democratic primary win for New York City mayor, but Steve Bannon has warned that Mamdani is a candidate who needs to be taken seriously.

Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker noted in a post on X that Bannon, a strategist in the first Trump administration, said Republicans should take note, as Mamdani has successfully keyed into the issue of affordability in the city.

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“He did something that AOC and Bernie haven’t been able to do — he connected populism to affordability,” Welker says Bannon told her.

“Republicans better start taking this guy seriously, and they better stop wishing that he wins, and they will automatically run against his policies in 2026. This guy is a very skilled politician. He’s clearly had a lot of training. He’s got radical ideas, but he presents them in a sunny upbeat way and people feel like he’s fighting for them, particularly on an issue that Republicans haven’t connected on yet: affordability,” Welker quoted Bannon as saying.

Welker said Mamdani will be appearing on Meet the Press on Sunday.

Mamdani has made affordability his key issue in the mayoral race, consistently highlighting working-class Americans and what he will help change for them.

GENERATION Z NEW YORKERS DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’VE DONE

“Running for Mayor to freeze the rent, make buses fast + free, and deliver free universal childcare,” Mamdani’s bio says.