President Trump met Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on September 21 and told him "Hopefully you're going to be a great one," the AP reported, in a story describing Republicans from Georgia and Texas to New York and Michigan as focused on the rise of democratic socialism in the midterm season; Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Tom Emmer had called Mamdani "Comrade Mamdani" and "Mamdani the commie" at Trump's midterm convention in Texas earlier in the month. Republican strategist Doug Heye said of the meeting, "It doesn't help." Mamdani said, "I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city."
The Guardian reported it was the first presidential visit to Gracie Mansion in 45 years, since Ronald Reagan met Ed Koch there in 1981.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a six-week, 20-state bus tour, the "Free Enterprise Express," urging midterm voters to reject socialism, departing this weekend for stops in Pennsylvania and New York in support of Republican candidates in three competitive House districts. The Chamber plans to promote more than 30 candidates as part of what CEO Suzanne Clark called a multiyear "nine-figure" effort. The Chamber's September 18 announcement said the tour builds on a $100 million contribution, the largest donation in its 114-year history.
The Chamber's announcement describes more than 50 events across the 20 states before the November 3 election.
At the two-day Republican midterm convention in Dallas September 9–10, speakers repeatedly invoked communism, socialism, and Marxism, with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed the most frequent target; Rogers said of his opponent, "He's a con man. I'm a law man," and Trump said of democratic socialists, "actually they're communists." Trump promised American adults $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate. NPR reported thousands of empty seats on both days, including almost all of the upper level.
The House passed a resolution condemning socialism the previous week, with 8 Democrats joining Republicans.