Politics
NEW: Top Democrat Takes Subtle Jab At Zohran Mamdani
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Sunday rejected the notion that socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is the future of the Democratic Party, instead nominating himself as the party’s best chance for success going forward.
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of The Union,” Jeffries argued that he is best equipped to lead the party due to his status as leader of the House Democratic Party caucus.
“No, I think the future of the Democratic Party is going to fall – as far as we’re concerned – relative to the House Democratic Caucus and members who are doing a great work all across the country, as it relates to our need to both take back control of the House, but, in doing so, make sure that we’re communicating to the American people, like, we understand, you deserve better than the country that you have received,” he said in response to a question about Mamdani’s ascendancy.
Jeffries recently endorsed Mamdani’s campaign after balking at doing so for months. He joined New York Governor Kathy Hochul and a number of other state and national Democrat leaders in issuing a late endorsement, while members of the progressive faction, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have embraced Mamdani and have been campaigning for him for months.
“I asked you if Mamdani was the future of the party, and you didn’t answer the question,” host Jake Tapper followed up. Jeffries responded by redirecting the conversation to President Donald Trump while listing a number of boilerplate party talking points.
“Donald Trump and Republicans have gone way too far and have failed to deliver anything meaningful for the American people, and, as Democrats, we’re going to focus on lowering the high cost of living, on fixing our broken healthcare system that Republicans continue to make worse with their toxic policies, and, of course, on cleaning up corruption in the Congress, in the courts, and within the administration with Donald Trump running the largest pay-to-play scheme in the history of the country,” he said in a rambling response.
Tapper kept on the issue by noting that the House Democrat leader took a long time to issue an endorsement. “Schumer still has not endorsed him. Are you concerned about Republicans using him as a lightning rod so as to hurt your ability to win back the House in 2026?” he asked.
Jeffries responded with another dodge.
“No, the lightning rod in terms of what’s going to impact the ability of either side to win control of the House or hold control of the House in 2026 is going to be the failure of Republicans to actually deliver on the promises that they have made and to actively make life worse for everyday Americans,” Jeffries said.
“The country knows that we’re heading in the wrong direction. We see it repeatedly.”
The comments come under 48 hours ahead of Tuesday’s state and municipal elections, which includes closely watched contests in Virginia, New Jersey and the mayoral race in the Big Apple. Mamdani is widely expected to cruise to victory in a three-way race with perennial Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the latter of whom is running an independent campaign after coming up short in the Democratic Party primary against Mamdani earlier this year.
