Trump simply needs a distraction, Mamdani argued in a press conference with New York City labor leaders on Wednesday. “He said those things about me — someone who stands to be the first immigrant mayor of this city in generations,

New York’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani . The president, who has a history of spewing sometimes vile insults at rivals, has in recent days escalated his attacks against the 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist.

Here’s what to know about the history of—and the Trump Administration’s efforts to ramp up—“denaturalization.”