Overview
- Asked Monday about chants at a Zohran Mamdani rally, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she could not hear clearly and thought the crowd was cheering for the Buffalo Bills.
- Attendees had chanted “Tax the rich,” echoing Mamdani’s calls for higher taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and corporations doing business in the city.
- Hochul said she wants Democrats to channel the crowd’s energy to help win back control of the House in the 2026 midterms.
- Rep. Elise Stefanik mocked the comment on X, telling the “#BillsMafia” the governor’s remark would not be forgotten.
- Coverage drew comparisons to the 2021 origin of the “Let’s go, Brandon” meme, where a crowd’s chant was publicly mischaracterized.