In the mayor’s race for New York where the front runner is Zohran Mamdani, the Islamophobia from various quarters is ugly, pervasive, and unrelenting.

If red baiting is the last refuge of scoundrels, we see it once again as a rogue’s gallery including first of al Trump, Cuomo and billionaires, like former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, are rolling out red baiting to undercut Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for Mayor of New York. My guess is that it won’t work, that they will be deeply disappointed (or in a panic) on election day when New Yorkers go to the polls and elect Mamdani.

The challenge of this moment is to join, once again, with people, including Democrats, who hold diverse views and politics in order to further build on the successes of the No Kings Day action on October 18.

While they no doubt will take many forms and pivot around different issues, the political imperative is clear — to further broaden and deepen the anti-MAGA, anti-Trump coalition. Big tent not small tent politics are in order.It is in this context that the broad, non sectarian left and progressive movements should continue to bring their initiative, flexibility, and political understanding.