Well, 2026 has started off with a bang! This is an important year in American history—the 250th anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. Major celebrations and ceremonies are planned all over America. They began on New Year’s Eve here in Washington, D.C., where the Washington Monument, named after our first president, dominates the skyline. As night fell on December 31, 2025, a spectacular multimedia display of patriotic themes and images was projected onto the monument. Even in divided Washington, D.C., there was praise for this inspirational celebration of American history.
I found myself wondering how George Washington would have reacted to another historical event that took place the very next day in New York City. There, on January 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani placed his hand on the Koran and took the oath of office to be the next mayor of New York City.
After his swearing-in ceremony, Mamdani delivered a 23-minute inaugural address to the cheers of tens of thousands of New Yorkers. But the vision he presented to his admirers was not a vision that George Washington, known as the Father of our Country, would have embraced.
Mayor Mamdani was standing less than one mile from where George Washington was sworn in as our first president at Federal Hall on April 30, 1789. New York City was our country’s capital from 1785 to 1790, and it hosted the Continental Congress.
After Washington took the oath of office—with his hand on the Holy Bible—he gave his inaugural address. Our first president credited the God of the Bible for the success of our revolution and the birth of America. This idea, that the God of all creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had brought us victory over the British Empire and was looking over and protecting the new nation, was widely embraced by the American people.
Mayor Mamdani did not mention God in his inaugural speech, and his supporters would not have been pleased if he had. In addition, he does not believe in the God of the Bible.
Mayor Mamdani made it clear that he places his trust in more government, and the bigger the better. He thinks it is the only hope for New York City and America. The inveterate, far-left-wing mayor felt no inclination to move toward the center and seek common ground. He received enthusiastic applause when he made this promise: “We will govern without shame and insecurity, making no apology for what we believe. I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”1
Mayor Mamdani rejected the idea that the era of big government was over. He vowed, “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously.”2
There are good government programs, but history has proved that when governments become bigger and more powerful, they inevitably limit the space occupied by faith, family, and freedom. Mamdani has already promised to use the power of the government to force the closing of the only three crisis pregnancy centers in all of New York City. So much for “choice.”
Mamdani did not, in his inaugural address, quote the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. These two documents make up the “owners’ manual” of our Republic. Instead, he promised something that raised eyebrows. He told the cheering crowd, “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” This is a socialist, Marxist idea that Mamdani and the Socialist Party of America hope to implement across our entire country.
Rugged individualism—not to be confused with selfishness—has always been admired in America. Historians have long noted the significance of institutions like the church, family, and community in our nation’s success and progress. Those little “platoons” temper rugged individualism. Rugged individualism is grounded in the individual rights outlined in our Bill of Rights. It spurred the early colonists and inspired the western expansion. It has made our country a leader in providing freedom and opportunity.
What about the “warmth of collectivism” that Mamdani embraces? There is a long history connected to the word “collectivism” that should trouble us all. Collectivism is a philosophy that subjugates the individual to the group, whether it is race, class, or the state. When collectivism triumphs, individual rights shrink. The individual and his work belong to the group or “collective.”
In the 20th century, the two premier forms of collectivism were godless communism or Marxism and fascism. Over the course of that century alone, these philosophies were responsible for the deaths of at least 100 million people. These “isms” robbed their people of God-given rights and ultimately brought about the mass murder of the common man.
Xi Van Fleet is an author who lived in Communist China during Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in which millions died. She wrote a book in 2023, warning Americans that she saw the same trends on the left here that she saw in the era of Mao that resulted in the deaths of so many Chinese.
After hearing Mamdani’s inaugural speech, Xi was deeply troubled. She said, “In America, I am reminded that I am an individual – made in the image of God with inherent dignity and worth. In communist China, I was taught that I was merely a replaceable part of the Socialist collective machine, dispensable whenever the needs of the state demanded it …”3
Of course, our whole nation was built on that idea. The Declaration of Independence we celebrate says God gave us our rights, not the big government adored by Socialists and Marxists like Mamdani.
It is sad that Mayor Mamdani, a rising political star and proud Socialist, emerged just as America celebrates 250 years of freedom. And we must be aware that he is not only a New York City phenomenon. Similar Mamdani-type Socialists have won elections in other big U.S. cities in recent years.
Dr. James Dobson loved God and loved America. Most Americans today share that love for God and country. We hope you will join us in 2026 as we launch new projects and programs to teach our children to love the things we love and honor the things we honor. Only by doing so can we feel confident that America will be able to celebrate a 300th birthday 50 years from now.
- Zohran Mamdani, “Mayor Zohran Mamdani Inaugural Address,” New York City, January 1, 2026, https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/01/mayor-zohran-mamdani-inaugural-address.
- Mamdani address.
- Jon Brown, “Top responses to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inaugural address: ‘Godless, rancid ideology,’ Christian Post, January 2, 2026, https://www.christianpost.com/news/top-responses-zohran-mamdani-inaugural-address.html?page=3
