Chuck Schumer calls voter ID "Jim Crow 2."
Now his socialist mayor – the Democrat Socialist who just beat Andrew Cuomo for control of New York City – just got caught demanding ID to buy government cheese.
Find out what Mamdani said when he thought no one was paying attention.
What Mamdani's Own Official Said Out Loud
At the July 27 press conference unveiling his $70 million government grocery scheme, a reporter asked the obvious question: how do you stop people from gaming a 30% discount?
Mamdani handed it to Jeanny Pak, his Economic Development Corporation chief financial officer.
Pak said the city wants to "target New Yorkers" through "a library-card-esque system" to manage "who's buying."
That's an ID system.
That's exactly what Schumer, Mamdani, and every Democrat in Washington has spent years calling racist and un-American when Republicans propose it for elections.
https://twitter.com/PlumbNick/status/2083999714987344323?s=20
After conservatives lit up social media with the clip, Mamdani's team scrambled.
His press secretary wrote on X that "there will be no system to verify identity, residency or income, and no one will be asked to show ID to shop."
Mamdani went on Joy Reid's show Monday night and laughed it off – "no matter what you've heard in the news of today."
He wasn't embarrassed.
He was annoyed that anyone noticed.
The Hypocrisy Democrats Can't Explain Away
The SAVE America Act would require a photo ID to vote in federal elections.
Eighty-three percent of Americans support that – including 71% of Democrats and 76% of black voters, according to Pew Research.
Schumer is blocking it anyway, calling it "Jim Crow 2.0."
Democrats in Congress have been lockstep in opposition – the House passed the SAVE America Act 218-213, with exactly one Democrat voting in favor.
https://twitter.com/SenMcCormickPA/status/2084354701315956954?s=20
Sen. Jim Banks said it plainly: "DEMOCRATS: Are fighting to ensure you don't have to show an ID before voting in our elections. ALSO DEMOCRATS: Want you to show an ID before entering a supermarket."
Rep. Claudia Tenney from New York asked the same question every normal American is asking: "So ID for government grocery stores to stop people abusing the system is fine – but requiring ID to vote is not?"
Trump called it out directly, also noting Mamdani previously required "two different IDs to shovel snow" for the city's emergency snow-shoveling program.
Why This Grocery Store Scheme Was Always Going to Fail
The ID fiasco is embarrassing, but it isn't even the biggest problem here.
Grocery stores already operate on profit margins of 1% to 2%.
Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni confirmed what that means: the 30% discount Mamdani promised translates to a loss of roughly 28 cents on every single dollar sold.
Manhattan Institute policy analyst Adam Lehodey told Fox News Digital that the promised savings are "an illusion" – taxpayers cover the subsidies while stores sit rent-free on city land.
New Yorkers aren't getting cheaper groceries.
They're paying the full price – just through their tax bill instead of at the checkout line.
Hugo Chávez tried the exact same thing in Venezuela in 2003 – government-run stores called "Mercal," offering socialist prices on essential food.
The result was empty shelves, ration systems, corruption, and eventually 7.8 million Venezuelans fleeing the country.
Mamdani knows this history.
https://twitter.com/DanielDiMartino/status/2084255550376661344?s=20
He just thinks New York City will be different.
The city has confirmed locations for only two of the five promised stores, the first won't open until late 2027 at the earliest, and officials are already hunting for private operators to run them – because nobody at City Hall has ever managed a grocery store.
GOP City Councilwoman Joann Ariola said what everyone already knows: "$70 million for slightly discounted produce is ridiculous. At this point it would be cheaper to just buy a million Costco memberships."
She's right.
Mamdani is staging a socialist experiment on eight million New Yorkers – with their own money.
And the moment someone asked how he'd actually prevent abuse, his own team described the same ID system Democrats call racist when Republicans want it to protect your vote.
Sources:
- "Mamdani's Grocery Giveaway Hits ID Snag as Critics Cry Foul," Fox News, August 3, 2026.
- "Mamdani Backtracks on Grocery Store ID Policy After Critics Cry Hypocrisy," The Blaze, August 4, 2026.
- "Democrats in Congress Are Even More Out of Touch on Voter ID Than We Thought," PJ Media, July 29, 2026.
- "Mamdani's Grocery Stores Expose the Democrats' Biggest Voter ID Lie," PJ Media, August 3, 2026.
- "Economists Just Caught NYC Mayor Mamdani Copying the Venezuela Grocery Store Playbook," Blue State Blues News, July 2026.
- "What Mamdani Can Learn From Hugo Chávez's Government-Run Grocery Store Debacle," Reason, July 31, 2026.
- "Mamdani's City-Owned Grocery Stores Are a Socialist Trap," Manhattan Institute/Fox News Digital, August 2026.
