CNN’s Michael Smerconish found himself surprised by the results of a poll he put out on Saturday asking whether “tax the rich” pushes are an “asset” or “liability” for Democrats.

Smerconish took issue during his Saturday show a video New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) made recently outside of billionaire Ken Griffin’s New York penthouse while pushing for a tax on luxury second homes in the state.

The video led to billionaire Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steve Roth calling out the mayor and going viral for comparing such “tax the rich” rhetoric to “some disgusting racial slurs.”

“I must say that I consider the phrase ‘tax the rich’ — quote, tax the rich — when spit out with anger and contempt by politicians both here and across the country, to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs,” Roth said, a comment heavily debated on cable news on Saturday.

Smerconish said the stunt seemed like more a “shakedown” than “policy” and argued Democrats should be cautious about embracing an aggressive “tax the rich” tone.

The CNN host was shocked how close the results were in his poll he dropped on social media once he read the results at the end of the show.

“Wow. Very close, huh?” he said.

The CNN host asked in the poll: “Is the Mamdani ‘tax the rich’ theme an asset or liability for Democrats nationally.”

With more than 25,000 votes at the time, 51% called the them an asset and 49% called it a liability.

“49% is the correct answer. It is a liability,” Smerconish said.

He argued such rhetoric can work in a primary, but won’t hold water in general elections.

“To make it tax the rich, great for a Democratic primary candidate, not so good in a general, at least in my opinion,” Smerconish said.

Watch above via CNN.

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