Mamdani Hits Back At Musk Over Criticism Of FDNY Chief Pick

New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) challenged Elon Musk for claiming that people will “die” over his appointment of a non-firefighter as the new head of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).

“Experience does matter, which is why I appointed the person who spent more than 30 years at EMS. You know, the workforce that addresses at least 70% of all calls coming into FDNY?” Mamdani wrote in response to Musk in an X post Saturday.

Mamdani’s remarks came after the tech billionaire condemned the self-proclaimed democratic socialist’s decision to appoint Lillian Bonsignore in a Friday X post.

“People will die because of this. Proven experience matters when lives are at stake,” Musk wrote alongside a clip of Mamdani announcing Bonsignore’s new role.

Last week, Mamdani appointed Bonsignore, a FDNY veteran who helmed Emergency Medical Services Operations before retiring from the department in 2022, as FDNY commissioner. She is the second woman to hold the position and the department’s first openly LGBTQ+ commissioner.

Bonsignore is also the first woman to achieve a 4-star rank in FDNY history, Mamdani said in a separate X post celebrating her new position.

Ahead of Musk’s criticism, Bonsignore told NBC New York, “I know the job. I know what the firefighters need, and I can translate that to this administration who’s willing to listen.”

Mamdani’s team and the FDNY didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.

Musk has launched attacks on Mamdani in the past during his mayoral campaign.

Appearing on an Oct. 31 episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the Tesla CEO referred to Mamdani as a “charismatic swindler.”

“I mean you gotta hand it to him, like, he can light up a stage, but he has just been a swindler his entire life,” he added.

Musk also claimed that Mamdani’s policies will put New Yorkers’ quality of life in jeopardy.

“If Mamdani’s policies are put into place, especially at scale, it would be a catastrophic decline in living standards, not just for the rich, but for everyone. As has been the case with every socialist experiment,” he added.

Mamdani has floated policies like increasing the minimum wage to $30 an hour, freezing rent and creating a network of city-owned grocery stores.