Hecklers taunt Gov. Hochul with ‘Tax the Rich’ chant at Zohran Mamdani’s NYC rally featuring AOC and Sanders

Gov. Kathy Hochul was berated by hecklers screaming “tax the rich!” as she took the stage at Zohran Mamdani’s packed mayoral rally in Queens Sunday night, forcing the headlining candidate to come out early to quell the unrelenting crowd.

The Democratic governor faced the rowdy audience at the sold-out “New York is Not For Sale” rally at the 13,000-seat Forest Hills Stadium — a get out the vote event featuring lefty darlings Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders in support of the mayoral frontrunner and Democratic nominee.

Hochul, who had recently endorsed Mamdani for New York City mayor despite previously voicing concerns about his tax-the-rich policies, attempted to stay on message during her surprise appearance despite the drowning boos and chants.

“Right now, our city and our state and our country are under attack by Donald Trump and our Republicans in Washington,” Hochul said from the stage, where she was flanked by state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

“They’re literally not just taking a wrecking ball to the White House, they are taking a wrecking ball to our values, our people, our progress,” she said.

She continued to rail against the government shutdown, ICE raids in the Big Apple, and the indictment of Attorney General Letitia James.

“Oh, you’re fired up, you’re fired up,” Hochul shot back at the hecklers as they continued to drown out her words.

“Alright. I can hear you,” she said, bringing some brief cheers before audience members lobbed more jeers.

“You want to see Zohran or not?” she asked impatiently, while mispronouncing his name.

Hochul struggled to get through the rest of her remarks, ending with a final plea to take “that energy, that passion” into 2026 midterm elections and at last earned persistent applause from the crowd.

Mamdani then walked onto the stage — well before his scheduled appearance as the final speaker — and hugged the governor, raising her hand in the air to cheers. He greeted Stewart-Cousins and Heastie before escorting Hochul off stage.

Mamdani has yet to endorse the governor for reelection.

During a mayoral debate against ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who’s running as an independent — and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa earlier this month, the Democratic socialist said his decision whether to back Hochul would come only after the general election.

Hochul has previously ripped Mamdani’s plan to impose a 2% income tax on Big Apple residents who make more than $1 million a year and inflate the corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5%, the same as New Jersey.

When Hochul was asked in a June interview if she backed Mamdani’s plan to tax wealthy New Yorkers and up the corporate tax, she flatly replied, “No.”

“I’m not raising taxes at a time where affordability is the big issue,” Hochul told PIX 11.

Later during the rally, Sanders urged members of the crowd not to underestimate Mamdani’s opponents despite his lead in the polls.

“Let me conclude by saying this, and I say this again, as somebody who became mayor of Burlington and Vermont in 1981 by winning that election by 10 votes after Rico. Now, I have looked at the polls here in New York. You have seen it, and the polls suggests that Zohran is in the lead, and that is great,” he said.

“But please, please, please, do not underestimate our opponents. They have a huge amount of money, and they are spending it right now. So I urge you forget about the polls. “

“Go into the last eight days of this election, assuming that you are five points behind,” he said in a rallying cry.

Ocasio-Cortez echoed similar sentiments, blasting Cuomo as a “bygone political establishment.”

“In nine short days, we will work our hearts out to elect Zohran Kwame Mamdani as the next mayor of the great city of New York,” the Queens-Bronx rep. told the crowd.”

“It is also not a coincidence that the very forces Zohran is up against in this race mirror what we are up against nationally … both an authoritarian criminal presidency fueled by corruption and bigotry and an ascendant right-wing extremist movement,” she added.

“And this time, an insufficient eroded bygone political establishment in the form of Andrew Cuomo,” AOC railed.

Early voting has already begun for the mayoral election ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4.