4-17-26 Morning Rush - Ben Shapiro's Terrible Take On Zohran Mamdani Taxing The Rich!
The Rush Hour With Dave Neal
Dave Neal
4.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Start your morning with a reality check.
Ben Shapiro is back with a take that's raising eyebrows—this time going after Zohran Mamdani and the broader conversation around taxing the rich. But does his argument actually hold up, or is it missing the bigger picture?
We break down what Mamdani represents in New York City politics, why "tax the rich" keeps trending, and how critics like Shapiro frame the debate versus what the data and everyday voters are actually saying. From economic myths to political messaging, this is one of those moments where the spin doesn't quite match reality.
Plus, what this clash reveals about the future of progressive policy—and why the fight over wealth taxes isn't going away anytime soon.
Buckle up. It's Rush Hour.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the rush hour. Your daily dose of pop culture for your rush hour ride. |
| 0:07.7 | Buckle up and enjoy the drive with your host, stand-up comedian Dave Neal. |
| 0:14.0 | Good morning, everybody. Happy Friday to you on this April 17th, 2026. I have all of your news for your rush hour ride to work. And we've got Ben Shapiro in a war against New York City mayor, Zoran, Mamdani. I'm going to share what Ben had to say. Mondani, of course, you know, thanks to the tax season, which was a few days ago, did you pay your taxes or are you like me? You kicked that |
| 0:37.7 | can down the road with a nice fat extension. It's all right. That's the most American thing you can do. |
| 0:42.6 | Well, either way, Zoran was talking about ways that they're going to be taxing the ultra wealthy |
| 0:47.8 | so that they can provide new perks for folks in his city. Well, Ben Shapiro does not like that. We're going to dive into all of |
| 0:56.9 | this and more, and it starts right now on the rush. Affordability is such an issue in our country, |
| 1:02.5 | right? That's what got Trump elected. Now, people are realizing he's doing nothing to make our |
| 1:06.7 | world more affordable. In fact, it's the opposite. Gas prices are a lot higher. And it's really |
| 1:11.8 | gone to show that nothing is more important than getting by. That's the most important thing |
| 1:18.5 | is, can you get by? And Mayor Zoran Mamdani won in a landslide as a relative unknown. One of the |
| 1:25.0 | greatest elections of all time. |
| 1:28.8 | He literally came out of nowhere and beat a political dynasty. |
| 1:32.8 | Well, he posted this video about ways that they're taxing the rich, |
| 1:36.7 | and then Ben called it Smarmy. |
| 1:38.7 | I'm going to share Ben's response, but have a listen. |
| 1:41.3 | When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. |
| 1:46.0 | Well, today, we're taxing the rich. |
| 1:48.0 | I'm thrilled to announce we've secured a pietere tax, the first in New York's history. |
| 1:53.0 | This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million. |
| 1:56.0 | There it is, an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million. |
| 2:00.0 | If you have a second home that's in |
... |
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