(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A bombshell report published Aug. 31 in the Columbia Journalism Review accused New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani of using tax dollars to recruit an army of social media influencers to push his socialist policies through a series of social campaigns.
The apparent pay-for-play arrangement is concerning, as the administration is reportedly using a messaging app to coordinate with the influencers that may violate open records laws.
Meanwhile, social media influencers are not disclosing that some of their pro-Mamdani posts are paid promotional content, potentially violating social media platforms’ policies, according to CJR.
The influencing system is made up of two groups. The first consists of “influencers on Instagram and TikTok” who promote his policies and other city services.
Separately, the mayor’s office also leads a so-called Creators4Zohran group on the messaging app Signal. The group is made up of influencers, some of whom, according to CJR, are paid by city agencies for work on specific campaigns.
A member told the outlet that there are more than 200 social media personalities in the group, some “with millions of followers.” Some of the individuals could be paid between $5,000 and $20,000 per “influencer campaign.”
As reported by CJR, the payments are handed out to influencers who enter into contracts with the Mamdani administration.
“The campaigns may involve cocreating content that includes messages the city agency wishes to promote,” the outlet reported. “The influencers are hired as independent contractors; under New York State law, this gives them autonomy and, city officials said, contributes to their freedom from editorial interference. For example, they may refuse to put a city announcement early on in their video.”
Other influencers market the campaigns on social media because of the traffic kickbacks from Mamdani’s followers.
At the center of the program is Mamdani aide Emilia Rowland, a former DNC spokesperson and longtime congressional aide to Democratic lawmakers.
The identities of the personalities remain unknown because the Mamdani administration has not disclosed them.
The CJR report comes just days after a Harvard Center for American Political Studies and Harris Insights and Analytics poll revealed that even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actually more popular than Mamdani.
According to the poll, Mamdani registered a 25% favorable rating and a 39% unfavorable rating, compared with Netanyahu’s 27% favorable rating and just 37% unfavorable rating.
By contrast, President Donald Trump had a 42% favorable rating and a 50% unfavorable rating. Even twice-failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris had a 42% favorable rating, compared with a 46% unfavorable rating.
New Poll finds Abdul El-Sayed and Zohran Mamdani are more unpopular than Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/64HzNiRB89
— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) September 3, 2026
