Saturday is expected to be the Big Apple’s hottest July 4 in the last 20 years, but a request by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to set air conditioners at 78 degrees is making a lot of right-wingers hot under the collar.
In fact, many are acting like the suggestion is the first step to godless communism taking over America.
In order to avoid straining the power grid, Mamdani asked New Yorkers to set ACs at the recommended level, turn off lights and electronics that are not in use and unplug “what you can.”
“Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment,” he wrote on X. “A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together.”
For the record, the Department of Energy says the sweet spot for AC energy efficiency during heat waves is between 75 and 78 degrees. And a failed power grid could lead to greater instances of heat illness and death.
Although the Public Utility Commission of Texas has also made that recommendation, the fact that it was coming from a democratic socialist like Mamdani was apparently a sign that all that is good and decent in the good old U.S. of A. was being ripped to shreds.
Of course, many of the conservatives griping about Mamdani’s request to New Yorkers don’t actually live in New York, but, hey, details.
Recent Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt lashed out at the unfairness of it all in two separate posts.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hoped to make hay at Mamdani’s expense, only to get hit with a pesky community note that pointed out Texas makes the same recommendation.
Other GOP figures also weighed in…
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) also tried to go the “everything I hate is socialism” route …
… Only to be shown a receipt from when she made a similar recommendation in 2015.