The 2026 FIFA World Cup is being played on American soil, in American stadiums, in front of American crowds. And yet a handful of New York Democrats cannot bring themselves to cheer for the home team. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has attended multiple World Cup matches without wearing a Team USA jersey. Two Democratic candidates vying for a congressional seat went further, declaring on live television that they are rooting for Mexico and Senegal.
The backlash has been swift, loud, and entirely predictable.
The core facts are not in dispute. The Daily Mail reported that Mamdani attended the first World Cup game at New York/New Jersey Stadium, Brazil versus Morocco, wearing a New York City-themed shirt rather than anything representing the U.S. Men's National Team. He did the same thing at the USA's opening match against Paraguay. Before the tournament even started, the mayor wore an Arsenal-themed custom kurta to celebrate Eid. At no point, in any public appearance tied to the World Cup, has Mamdani been seen wearing the red, white, and blue of Team USA.
For a mayor whose city is co-hosting the biggest sporting event on the planet, the choice was noticed.
The World Cup jersey controversy might have stayed a social media sideshow if not for what happened on PIX 11. During an on-camera debate for New York's 13th Congressional District seat, both candidates were asked which team they support. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the incumbent, answered simply: "Ah, I like Mexico." His challenger, Darializa Chevalier, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who has been endorsed by Mamdani, said: "I'm rooting for Senegal."
Neither candidate expressed any support for the United States.
Chevalier's DSA membership and Mamdani's endorsement place her squarely in the orbit of the socialist mayor, whose governance record has drawn sustained criticism. Bill Maher recently made the case on his own show that Mamdani is a communist, and his guest could not rebut it. That Mamdani's hand-picked congressional candidate cannot root for the country she wants to represent in Congress tells you something about the political ecosystem these figures inhabit.
Espaillat, for his part, is an incumbent member of the United States Congress. He swore an oath to the Constitution. Voters might reasonably wonder whether a man who defaults to "I like Mexico" when asked about the World Cup feels the same casual detachment about the country he serves in other contexts.
Social media users did not hold back. One critic wrote: "Not wearing a Team USA jersey when you're a mayor says a lot about where your loyalty sits." Another posted: "Pride in the country shouldn't be optional for people in charge." A third was blunter: "People who don't put American first should not be allowed to run for governmental positions."
Others directed their frustration at the voters who put these officials in office. "Shameful and a disgrace," one wrote. "People who vote for these idiots get exactly what they deserve."
The anger is not manufactured. When elected officials, people who draw taxpayer salaries, swear oaths to the republic, and wield government authority, cannot muster even performative patriotism during a World Cup played in their own city, voters notice. And they draw conclusions.
Mamdani's World Cup wardrobe was not his only awkward public moment. This week, the New York Knicks held their championship parade through the Canyon of Heroes, celebrating the franchise's first NBA title in 53 years. At a City Hall ceremony, Mamdani gifted ceremonial keys to the city to members of the Knicks organization, including team owner James Dolan.
The exchange did not go smoothly. Dolan declined to pose for a photo with the mayor, quickly shook his hand, and returned to his seat. From the podium, Dolan addressed the crowd with what the Daily Mail described as an "apparent dig" at Mamdani.
Dolan told fans: "I don't need your vote, I don't need to quote to you, right, about what happened here because if you're real Knicks fans, you know it already."
Whether that was aimed at Mamdani or was simply Dolan being Dolan, the optics were clear: the mayor stood onstage looking sidelined at a celebration for his own city's team. It was a fitting visual for an official who seems more comfortable representing every identity except the American one.
Mamdani's tenure has been marked by a pattern of priorities that alienate mainstream New Yorkers. His first 100 days left a trail of broken promises on housing and homelessness. His fiscal approach has drawn sharp rebukes from business leaders, Kevin O'Leary publicly dismantled Mamdani's tax plan as wealth continued fleeing the city.
It would be one thing if this were an isolated lapse, a mayor who forgot to grab the right shirt on game day. But the pattern is too consistent to dismiss. Mamdani attended multiple World Cup events without wearing Team USA gear. His endorsed candidate for Congress chose Senegal over the United States on live television. The incumbent congressman in the same race chose Mexico.
These are not random wardrobe malfunctions. They are signals, and voters are receiving them clearly.
Mamdani's broader political identity makes the signals harder to ignore. This is a mayor who has doubled down on abolishing ICE while dismissing members of his own party who disagree. His spending priorities have included pledging $15 million in taxpayer funds for transgender healthcare, which he called "just the beginning." Whatever one thinks of those policy choices individually, they paint a portrait of an official whose instincts run toward every progressive cause except basic national solidarity.
The Daily Mail reported that it contacted Mamdani for comment. No response was noted.
Critics will say this is a trivial story, a fight over clothing at a soccer match. But symbols matter, especially from people in power. When a mayor hosts the World Cup in his own city and cannot wear the home team's colors, it is not a fashion choice. It is a statement. When two people running for Congress pick foreign countries over the one they want to serve, it is not a quirky personal preference. It is a window into how they see the job.
No one is asking these officials to be jingoists. The bar is remarkably low: wear the jersey, cheer for the team, act like you are glad to represent the country that gave you the office you hold. Espaillat and Chevalier could not clear it. Mamdani would not try.
Voters in New York's 13th District and across the five boroughs will have their say soon enough. The question is simple: do you want leaders who are proud to represent this country, or ones who treat American identity as something to be managed around?
If you can't root for the home team, maybe you shouldn't be asking the home team to vote for you.
