UPDATE - US House passes resolution condemning socialism

ADDS REMARKS BY MAMDANI

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution condemning socialism.

The lower chamber voted 285-98, with 86 Democrats joining Republicans in support of the measure introduced by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar.

The voting came ahead of President Donald Trump's closed-door meeting with New York’s incoming Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the White House.

"Congress denounces socialism in all its forms, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States," the resolution said.

When Mamdani was asked about the resolution in the Oval Office alongside Trump, the mayor-elect said he was focused on "work at hand," not political resolutions.

"I can tell you I am someone who is a Democratic socialist. I've been very open about that, and I know there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable," Mamdani told reporters.

Mamdani, 34, became the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of the nation’s largest city after defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the mayoral election earlier this month, running on a progressive platform centered on affordability and expanded social services.

Throughout the campaign, Trump attacked the democratic socialist as a “communist” and threatened to cut federal funding to New York if Mamdani won.