As temperatures in the Big Apple are set to hit triple digits, Republicans are melting down over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s request that residents in the five boroughs turn their air conditioners to 78 degrees — advice President Donald Trump’s own Department of Energy offers as well, as do some of their own states.

“New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” Mayor Mamdani noted on Wednesday, as a multi-day heat wave pushed temperatures to the mid-90s. Temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees on Thursday for the first time in over a decade.

“Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can,” Mamdani asked. “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. A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together.”

That request did not go over well on the right.

“Welcome to socialism, where the government demands you turn your house into a sauna because they can’t plan for the super unpredictable fact that it tends to get hot in the summer,” retorted U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX).

“This is what socialism looks like, folks,” added Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP’s nominee for governor of Ohio. “The right answer isn’t restrictions or mandates. It’s drilling, fracking, coal, & nuclear. That’s how we’ll roll in Ohio.”

“In a first-world country, you could turn on the A/C….” wrote U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), only to be met with a community note on the X social media platform, which read: “Ted Cruz’s own state has made the same request on numerous occasions.”

Emmy Award-winning WTTG anchor Jim Lokay also responded to Senator Cruz, writing: “Trump’s own Department of Energy website recommends setting the AC at a range of 75-78 degrees.”

Indeed, on its website, the Department of Energy says: “The Department of Energy (DOE) and ENERGY STAR recommend finding a comfortable indoor temperature during the day and increasing it by 7°F when no one is home. Start with an indoor temperature between 75-78°F during the day.”

Critics slammed some of the Republicans’ responses — especially that of Sen. Cruz.

“You are the absolute LAST person to weigh in, Captain Cancun,” retired intelligence officer Travis Akers wrote.

“Your state’s electrical grid crashes if it gets too hot or cold, so I wouldn’t be throwing stones here,” said Democratic strategist Mike Nellis.

NYC SIZZLES 🥵: FOX Weather Senior Correspondent Robert Ray hits the scorching streets of New York City as an intense heat dome traps millions in life-threatening temperatures. New Yorkers are already feeling the burn: pic.twitter.com/HbMhU6L2P6

— FOX Weather (@foxweather) July 2, 2026

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Nobel laureate Paul Krugman is dismantling the right’s attack on what some see as an increasing embrace of socialism in America — by defining what actual socialism is, explaining that most Americans support European-style social democracy, and revealing that right-wing radicals’ attack on so-called socialism is really just an effort to dismantle social democracy and democracy.

Actual socialism, Krugman says, is government ownership of the means of production. What some on the right decry as socialism is social democracy, which Krugman explains is “an ideology that is OK with living in a mostly market-driven economic system in which some people make much more money than others, but one that advocates policies to tame markets and inequality with progressive taxation, safety net programs, and regulations.”

Americans overall support social democratic priorities, Krugman finds, citing a YouGov poll. That includes replacing private health insurance with national government insurance, government paying college tuition, and government building public housing.

But social democratic programs, which Krugman calls “as American as sliced bread,” also include programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, a national minimum wage, and progressive taxation.

“There is,” Krugman writes, “a real groundswell of dismay over an economy that increasingly favors a tiny group of billionaires, and a political system that all too often works on these oligarchs’ behalf. When people say that they favor socialism, surely what they are often really saying is that they are angry about the rise of oligarchy. They are not demanding a dictatorship of the proletariat.”

Krugman asks, “Why, then, does it look as if socialism is on the rise?”

“Mainly,” he answers, “because right-wing propagandists continually smear social democratic policies as socialist, trying to make popular, mainstream policy ideas sound extreme. And some Americans who are basically social democrats in effect respond by saying, ‘Well, if that’s socialism, I guess I’m OK with socialism.'”

Krugman concludes that while there are “left-wing radicals in America, they have no realistic prospect of getting their way.”

He says that it’s “important to understand what the current uproar over socialism is really about. For the most part, it’s an attempt to distract from the danger posed by the important radical movement in America — that of right-wing radicals who want to dismantle both social democracy and democracy itself.”

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CNN data analyst Harry Enten says President Donald Trump is dragging down Republican Senate candidates in six battleground states Democrats hope to win to flip the chamber in November — and Trump will bear the blame if Democrats retake the majority. Democrats need to pick up four of the six to help turn the Senate blue.

“Donald John Trump is an anchor dragging down these Republican candidates across the board,” Enten said. “If they lose the Senate, it will be because of Donald Trump becoming so unpopular, especially on the cost of living.”

The issue of affordability will “drag those Republicans down and boost the Democrats to a Senate majority,” he added.

According to polling Enten cited, Trump is underwater in Alaska, Texas, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, and Maine — and on affordability, he is down by double digits in those six states.

“If Democrats are going to take back control of the United States Senate it will be in large part because of one man and one man alone,” Enten said. “And it is this man right here, Donald John Trump, because he is an anchor, he is an anchor, on Republicans running for the United States Senate.”

Enten compared Trump’s popularity in 2024 to recent polling in those six states. Just two years ago his net approval rating was plus eight points. Now, it is negative 11 points.

“In 2024, on average, he won those states by eight points,” Enten explained. “And most of them he won by double digits. But look where he is now on his net approval rating. Down down, he goes into the Ohio River. Look at this, he’s at minus 11 points. It’s a nearly 20 points switcheroo in the negative direction.”

“So Donald Trump across the board, across the board, in each of the six key Senate states is now underwater in all of them, despite winning in five of six of them.”

“Why have the people in these states so turned against the President of the United States in five of the six of these that he won? It comes down to the cost of living.”

Enten showed that Trump is underwater on affordability — voters’ number one issue — by 22 points in Alaska, 21 points in Texas, 24 points in Iowa, 26 points in Ohio, 29 points in North Carolina, and 36 points in Maine.

If affordability remains an issue in November, “it will drag those Republicans down and boost the Democrats to a Senate majority.”

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