There was a time when political support meant something because it was earned—a neighbor knocking on doors, a local business owner placing signs in windows, a community leader standing at a podium and staking their reputation on a candidate. That trust was organic, messy, and real. It was the backbone of American civic life. Today, apparently, it has a price tag.
The transaction works like this: politicians funnel public dollars through marketing firms and ad agencies that then pay social media influencers to post glowing endorsements disguised as personal opinions. The audience never knows the difference—the person on screen looks passionate, sounds authentic, and never mentions the check that arrived before the camera rolled. It is propaganda with a ring light, and some of our most powerful elected officials have turned it into standard operating procedure.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has assembled a network of paid influencers who promote his city initiatives and the mayor’s office talking points. A Signal group where influencers receive messaging has over 200 members—some with 5,000 to 10,000 followers, others with millions. The group is run by Emilia Rowland, director of new media and cultural communications for the mayor’s office.
An investigation found that influencers in Mamdani’s network are not paid directly by the city but sometimes by city agencies for specific campaigns. City workers reported influencers are paid to “disseminate messages” and claim it is cheaper than traditional TV or radio ads. The influencers, however, are never required to disclose their affiliation.
Zohran Mamdani rode into Gracie Mansion on a wave of progressive adoration—the democratic socialist, the first Muslim mayor of New York, the champion who promised to put working people first. What he built instead was a publicly financed influence operation sophisticated enough to make a foreign intelligence service jealous.
According to recent findings, influencers in Mamdani’s network earn between $5,000 and $20,000 per campaign. Payments are routed through advertising agencies holding city contracts, keeping influencer names off the books. A single procurement notice from the Campaign Finance Board covers a “Multi-Channel Media Buying Service” worth over $15 million—fifteen million dollars for social media posts alone.
Former city media official Jose Bayona laid out the math with striking candor: spending $50,000 on influencers buys ten messengers who “replicate” talking points, while the same amount on television yields one or two ads that “you cannot be sure anyone sees.” Efficient, sure—and deeply cynical.
Meanwhile, the mayor’s office distributes daily talking points and video clips through Signal. Journalists have noted this violates city communication rules. When pressed for answers, the mayor’s office went silent. Transparency, it seems, is strictly a campaign-trail accessory.
Mamdani isn’t freelancing here. A recent investigation revealed that paid political influencing has spread across Democratic campaigns nationwide like a shameless virus.
Consider Josh Greene, a rising progressive influencer with nearly 800,000 followers: in February he publicly criticized California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer. By May—around the time Steyer’s campaign paid him $21,500—Greene was calling Steyer “the most progressive viable candidate.”
Then there’s Paige Dunmeyer. She posted videos endorsing a Democratic Senate candidate as a proud Michigan native. The next day, she appeared on a different account as a concerned Wisconsin resident. She actually lives in Kansas City, Missouri. Two states, two identities, zero shame.
Dark money groups have been caught explicitly instructing influencers that “disclosure is not required and the paid partnership label will not be included.” Even progressive influencer Suzanne Lambert, who claims she’s never taken money for an endorsement, admitted: “People don’t know what’s real anymore.”
What makes Mamdani’s operation particularly brazen is its origin story. The Signal group grew directly from his campaign influencer network, “Creators4Zohran.” The campaign never ended—it simply shifted to the taxpayer’s tab.
And these influencers aren’t merely promoting recycling schedules and voter registration drives. They push ideological messaging, including anti-ICE content—all while pretending to be independent voices with spontaneous opinions. They are boosters, not journalists: they affirm, they never question, and they certainly never bite the hand writing the checks.
This is what democratic socialism delivers in practice—not power to the people, but a purchased simulation of it. Mamdani sold New Yorkers authenticity and handed them a scripted performance. When a politician needs 200 paid voices on an encrypted app to echo his message, that isn’t governing. It’s a con.
