‘Rules for Thee but Not for Our Socialist Leaders’: NYC Man Rages Over Mamdani’s Power-Saving Push

A video uploaded by @WallStreetApes on X shows a New York man condemning Mayor Zohran Mamdani for the city's recent power-saving efforts during a heat wave. In the video, the man criticizes Con Edison's temporary voltage reduction and Mamdani's request that locals set their thermostats to 78 degrees.

The comments quickly turned into a debate over energy policy and socialism.

While parts of the video reflect real events, other claims are missing important context.

The poster who shared the video captioned it with "New York residents are furious at Zohran Mamdani over power restrictions." They also stated: "Rules for thee but not for our socialist leaders." A commenter agreed and said, "That's how it always works."

The video opens with the man saying he was notified by Con Edison that they would temporarily lower the voltage in his neighborhood to help reduce outages. He then sarcastically said that the move came on "the same day Taylor Swift gets married at MSG." However, there is no evidence that the singer's wedding to Travis Kelce affected ConEd's supply.

The man goes on to compare the reduced voltage to paying full price for gasoline but receiving less fuel, calling it "socialism." He also criticizes Mayor Zohran Mamdani's request that New Yorkers set their air conditioners and thermostats to 78 degrees.

The man argues that city leaders are asking residents to sacrifice because of policy failures.

He further claims that New York's infrastructure has been overwhelmed by "millions of illegal immigrants," which is why residents are now being asked to conserve electricity. Neither Con Edison nor New York City officials have linked the power reduction to immigration.

It was done in parts of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and northern Manhattan, as demand on the electric grid surged during the heat wave.

An X user claimed that critics of Musk's ownership of X object to users being able to challenge what they called a 'socialist' narrative. Another claimed that socialism eventually leads to elites keeping their power. Con Edison and city officials have not confirmed either explanation.