CNBC host battles Elizabeth Warren over raising taxes in New York City as senator defends Mamdani

CNBC host David Faber battled Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., over raising taxes in New York City and Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's economic policy proposals on Monday in a fiery back and forth. 

"You mentioned Mamdani and you are in New York sort of speaking on behalf of him to a certain extent," Faber said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "New York does not operate in a vacuum. It competes with other cities. And so this idea of somehow raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, who, by the way, would point out pay roughly 15 percent of their income right now between city and state. Raising taxes on them will simply drive them away."

"Shouldn't the focus of a mayor be on delivering services to the constituents of the city and doing that by raising the most revenue as possible without chasing businesses and the high-income taxpayers out of the city?" he asked. "Because they can go to Austin. They can go to Dallas. They can go to Atlanta. They can go to Nashville. This is your issue. It's a national issue, not a local issue."

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Warren argued the issue was affordability and argued New Yorkers can't afford groceries or housing in the city, as Faber agreed that affordability was a problem but pushed back and asked, "But raising taxes in order to do it - why is that the answer?"

"Oh dear, are you worried that billionaires are going to go hungry?" Warren mockingly responded.

"No, I'm worried that they're going to leave and spend their money elsewhere!" Faber hit back.

Warren said that billionaires always threaten to do that, while Faber argued that big companies actually do move elsewhere. 

"They've left. And Goldman Sachs, when they create new jobs, they do it in Dallas. And Blackstone won't build a new headquarters. I can go on and on," Faber said. 

Warren said New York needed people who could live and work in the city as she continued to argue that childcare affordability and grocery prices were a problem. 

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"These are national issues," Faber said. "But if you deal with them in that way, by what is always your backup, just tax them more. They will leave."

"I think many people would disagree to the extent that by raising taxes and making it more onerous for businesses that create the jobs, that create the revenues on which taxes are - tax revenues come from, that you'd ultimately be dealing with a smaller pie. He may succeed by driving everybody out. Rents will go down," Faber said as Warren kept her argument focused on billionaires. 

"If you think that the best way to run city government or national government is to start with the billionaires and say, what will work best for you? Vote Republican," she said. "But if you don't, then let's make the city more affordable. Let's make the country more affordable. And the way we do that, let's focus on housing. Let's focus on groceries."

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Faber argued that these were national issues that senators like Warren should be focusing on before pointing to Mamdani's inexperience. 

"You think somebody who has absolutely no experience, a 33-year-old socialist, is going to succeed as the mayor of New York?" he asked.

Warren said yes and called his primary win "democracy at work."