You can’t be both a socialist and a libertarian. The leading works by libertarian thinkers criticize socialism and defend capitalism, such as Capitalism and Freedom, Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, and The Road to Serfdom.
But Nicholas Sarwark, the chairman of America’s Libertarian Party from 2014 to 2020, promotes socialism. He promoted the message that the “best kinds of socialism (of which there are many) fulfill the promises of liberalism.” He also says that “Libertarianism came from the left and belongs on the left.” Sarwark has written lots of “social media posts praising socialists, attacking deregulation, and supporting government spending increases.” And he declares that he has a “left lean on economics.”
In the 2025 New York mayoral race, Sarwark supported the socialist candidate, Zohran Mamdani, rather than the mainstream Democrat Andrew Cuomo or the most pro-free-market candidate Curtis Sliwa — who, despite being Republican, was pro-LGBT, like the other candidates in the race. Sarwark has touted the socialist philosopher Proudhon, while disparaging Murray Rothbard, who co-founded the libertarian Cato Institute.
Sarwark constantly declares that Zohran Mamdani “is a good Mayor,” often for doing stupid things like jumping into a swimming pool with his suit on, or harmful things like cracking down on businesses. Sarwark loves Mamdani, who is setting up government-run grocery stores. Such stores are expected to cost much more than a private grocery store would, and have inferior produce. Mamdani is imposing harsh rent controls that even Democratic economists say will lead to worse housing and financial problems. But Mamdani is obviously Sarwark’s favorite politician. Sarwark has such an unhealthy man crush on Mamdani that he will praise Mamdani for merely taking a walk, declaring “This is a good Mayor” after Mamdani took a 6-mile walk. He praised Mamdani merely for riding a bike home, saying “This is a good Mayor.” Mamdani has proposed a record $126 billion budget for New York City, increasing spending by 10% and leaving the city “on the verge of a fiscal crisis.”
Sarwark’s support for socialism and left-wing causes makes him very popular on the left-wing website Bluesky. On at least one occasion, Sarwark has expressed hostility to the pro-free-market Cato Institute, which describes itself as libertarian. No one likes Sarwark better than the disgruntled former staffers of the Cato Institute who quit their jobs because of the Cato Institute’s focus on free markets rather than progressive causes. One such disgruntled former employee is Jason Kuznicki, a left-leaning fellow who now works for the Institute for Humane Studies. Today, Kuznicki urged other Bluesky users to follow Nicholas Sarwark. Sarwark has peddled the idea that “No real libertarians would work at Cato or Scalia Law or AfP. Those are the top institutions of authoritarianism and control — the opposite of libertarianism.” “Cato” is a reference to the Cato Institute. AfP refers to Americans for Prosperity, which supports free markets, limited government, and criminal justice reform.
Here is an example of Sarwark posting that “Libertarianism came from the left and belongs on the left.”
Nicholas Sarwark has a seemingly endless series of social media posts declaring “This is a good Mayor” in response to every trivial or harmful thing that Zohran Mamdani does.
Here is Sarwark praising Mamdani for riding his bike:
Here is Sarwark praising Mamdami for taking a long walk:
Here is Sarwark praising Mamdani for jumping into a pool with his suit on, thereby ruining his suit:
Here is Nicholas Sarwark, saying “This is a good Mayor” about Zohran Mamdani, again and again and again:
Here is Jason Kuznicki of the Institute for Humane Studies telling people on Bluesky to follow Sarwark:
Here is Nicholas Sarwark peddling an attack on the Cato Institute, reposting the statement that “No real libertarians would work at Cato or Scalia Law or AfP. Those are the top institutions of authoritarianism and control — the opposite of libertarianism.”
