Fox News contributor Liz Peek joined Charles Payne on Kudlow to weigh in on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s charm offensive with Wall Street executives, calling his outreach “very nice, very cosmetic” but ultimately meaningless. Peek argued that Mamdani is “an ideologue” whose commitment to radical policies like rent control and city-run grocery stores—despite mountains of evidence against them—makes productive dialogue with the business community nearly impossible.
Peek pointed to JPMorgan Chase already shifting headcount from New York to Texas and noted that the city has lost an estimated $10 to $15 billion in revenue as high-net-worth residents flee rising taxes and deteriorating public safety. “If you raise taxes and you defund the police and you encourage anti-Semitism, you drive people out of your city and you lose,” she said. “That’s not rocket science. That’s common sense.”
Turning to President Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Peek took a contrarian view, calling the trip “very successful.” She noted that Trump brought 30 top business leaders—a move the Chinese were not expecting—as a show of American economic strength, while Xi’s team resorted to putting Trump in a smaller chair during photo ops. “I don’t think that speaks to strength,” she observed, adding that China’s struggling consumer economy leaves Xi in a weak negotiating position.
Peek also expressed enthusiasm for Kevin Warsh’s swearing-in as Federal Reserve Chair, praising him as an inflation hawk who nevertheless sees AI-driven productivity gains as an argument for lower rates. She noted Warsh wants to measure inflation differently—a method that puts the rate closer to 2.5% rather than 3.2%—and called him “a breath of fresh air” who could finally reorient the Fed away from treating economic growth as the enemy.
