{"id":48307,"date":"2026-05-19T11:59:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48307"},"modified":"2026-05-19T11:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:59:18","slug":"i-worked-all-day-and-cant-feed-my-family-mamdani-offers-9-words-more-terrifying-than-ronald-reagans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/i-worked-all-day-and-cant-feed-my-family-mamdani-offers-9-words-more-terrifying-than-ronald-reagans\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Worked All Day and Can\u2019t Feed My Family\u2019: Mamdani Offers 9 Words More Terrifying Than Ronald Reagan\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/united-states-mayor-zohran-mamdani-holds-100-days-rally.jpg?id=65540052&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=0%2C97%2C0%2C1570\" alt=\"UNITED-STATES-MAYOR-ZOHRAN-MAMDANI-HOLDS-100-DAYS-RALLY\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers an address to the crowd at his 100 Days Rally at the Knockdown Center in New York, NY, USA on April 12, 2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Photo by Jason Alpert-Wisnia \/ Hans Lucas \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cIt\u2019s not just that government can help, it\u2019s that government must help and our government will help.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May 18, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New York Mayor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/zohran-mamdani\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a>&nbsp;on Monday delivered a rebuttal to former Republican President Ronald Reagan\u2019s infamous quote about \u201cthe nine most terrifying words in the English language.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During an event announcing the location of a second city-run grocery store, Mamdani recalled Reagan claiming in 1986 that the scariest words in the English language were \u201cI\u2019m from the government and I\u2019m here to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RECOMMENDED&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/steven-roth-tax-rich\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/sen-bernie-sanders-i-v-holds-a-tax-the-rich-rally-at-lehman-college-in-the-bronx-new-york-city-on-march-29-2026.jpg?id=66690670&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=175%2C0%2C175%2C0\" alt=\"Billionaire Compares 'Tax the Rich' Calls to Hate Speech as Study Finds Barely Half of Americans Earn Living Wage\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/steven-roth-tax-rich\">Billionaire Compares \u2018Tax the Rich\u2019 Calls to Hate Speech as Study Finds Barely Half of Americans Earn Living Wage<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-irs-lawsuit-slush-fund\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/us-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-and-president-donald-trump.jpg?id=63523317&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=833%2C0%2C834%2C0\" alt=\"US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Donald Trump\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-irs-lawsuit-slush-fund\">\u2018A $1,700,000,000 Fraud\u2019: Trump Set to Drop IRS Suit in Exchange for MAGA Slush Fund<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a good quote, but I disagree,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cI think nine more terrifying words are actually, \u2018I worked all day and can\u2019t feed my family.\u2019 We are going to use the power of government to lower prices and make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mayor Zohran Mamdani mocks Ronald Reagan\u2019s infamous quote.<br><br>\u201cI can think of nine words more terrifying than \u2018I\u2019m from the government and I\u2019m here to help\u2026\u2019\u201d <br><br>\u201cI worked all day and can\u2019t feed my family.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZteyFvA5Lg\">pic.twitter.com\/ZteyFvA5Lg<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Jacobin (@jacobin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jacobin\/status\/2056386746552565919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 18, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The mayor added that \u201cwhen government understands its purpose as serving the very working people that it has left behind time and again, it can make a difference in the most pressing struggles facing our city today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just that government can help,\u201d Mamdani emphasized, \u201cit\u2019s that government must help and our government will help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/mayors-office\/news\/2026\/05\/mayor-mamdani-announces-the-peninsula-in-the-bronx-as-the-second\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announcement<\/a>, Mamdani revealed that the city is planning to open a 20,000-square-foot grocery store in the Peninusla development in the Bronx by the end of next year. This marks the second announced location for a city-run grocery store, following an earlier announcement for a planned store in East Harlem that is set to open by 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMaking sure every New Yorker can buy fresh, affordable groceries in their own neighborhood is a key part of our affordability agenda,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cWe are proud to begin this work in the South Bronx and remain committed to opening a store in every borough before the end of our first term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers an address to the crowd at his 100 Days Rally at the Knockdown Center in New York, NY, USA on April 12, 2026.&nbsp; (Photo by Jason Alpert-Wisnia \/ Hans Lucas \/ AFP via Getty Images) \u201cIt\u2019s not just that government can help, it\u2019s&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/i-worked-all-day-and-cant-feed-my-family-mamdani-offers-9-words-more-terrifying-than-ronald-reagans\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1895,1894,707],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48308,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48307\/revisions\/48308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}