The Left has some radical policies they want to implement. Republicans are warning about the ramifications of such policies.
And this GOP congressman slammed an insane Leftists with a sobering reality check.
A Republican’s Case Against Government-Run Grocery Stores in New York City
A House Republican with deep roots in the grocery business is pushing back against a bold proposal from New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who wants to launch government-owned grocery stores. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, whose family runs a small chain of markets in Youngstown, Ohio, warns that such a plan could devastate the grocery industry.
“This will be a bullet into the heart of the U.S. grocery industry, if this caught on,” Rulli said to Fox News Digital during an interview.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and New York State Assembly member, has put forward a plan to open five publicly owned grocery stores—one in each of New York City’s boroughs. His goal is to tackle food insecurity in underserved neighborhoods and lower grocery costs for residents.
The proposal, pitched as a pilot program, has sparked heated debate, with critics like Rulli arguing it could disrupt an already fragile industry.
Rulli, whose family operates Rulli Brothers, a two-store chain in Ohio, emphasized the slim profit margins grocers face, typically ranging from 1% to 3%.
“My brothers run that store, our family store…they have gone between [1.25%] and 1.7 net in the last five to six years,” he said. For small businesses like his, and even larger chains, these tight margins leave little room for error.
The Ohio congressman painted a grim picture of what could happen if Mamdani’s idea expands. “Say you’re going to Cleveland, Ohio. And the mayor opens up ten government-run stores, half the cost of all the other different stores,” Rulli said. He argued that both small “mom-and-pop” shops and major chains like Kroger or Harris Teeter could be driven out of business.
“All of them would go out of business, and you’d only have the government-run business. So once you have only government-run business, there’s no incentive for there to be creativity, competition, variety.”
Rulli also warned that reduced competition could eventually lead to higher prices, hitting working-class families the hardest. He pointed to New York City’s iconic corner stores, known as “bodegas,” which could struggle to survive alongside government-subsidized markets.
To illustrate his point, Rulli recalled a famous moment when former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin visited a Texas grocery store and was stunned by the abundance of products.
“You have the options on different size, amounts…There’s so many different things. And you’re going to have 15 or 20 kinds of varieties. That makes for a good quality of life,” Rulli stated.
Turning to Mamdani’s proposal, he added, “You want to limit the amount of things that they could buy at the grocery store? One of the few things that the blue-collar American, the populist American, can actually take comfort in is the variety of [items] at the grocery store.”
Mamdani’s rise in the New York City Democratic primary caught many by surprise, especially given speculation that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo might dominate early support. Backed by progressive heavyweights like Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Mamdani’s far-left platform has made him a lightning rod for Republican criticism.
Several New York Republicans told Fox News Digital in June that a Mamdani victory in November could give the GOP a political edge, though they vowed to fight against it.
Mamdani faces Republican Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent. Rumors also swirl that Cuomo may enter the race as an independent candidate.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
