New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reaffirmed his support for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday, telling a reporter he “continues to support Congressman Jeffries and his bid to become the leader” if Democrats retake the House this fall.
The comment landed at a delicate moment for Jeffries, who spent the weekend fielding criticism over a private meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and White House envoy.
Mamdani’s answer set off a wave of frustration among figures on the party’s left flank who had claimed him as their standard-bearer. Kshama Sawant, a socialist organizer and former Seattle city council member, wrote on social media that Mamdani “continues to support genocidal Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker” despite the Kushner meeting. She argued the Democratic Socialists of America’s strategy of working inside the Democratic Party is not working.
Socialists of Lemmy: let’s not take Mamdani out behind the woodshed just yet.
First of all, the article makes it sound like Mamdani has pledged his undying devotion to Jeffries, above all other options, but as far as I can tell all he said was “I support him as Speaker”, with no actual timeframe given. Jeffries is the current Minority Leader, and no other candidate has come out to say they want to challenge him, at least not publicly. So, there technically isn’t another option right now. Mamdani could make an announcement that he supports Rob Manfred as Commissioner of Baseball, and it would have the same practical impact.
Also, Mamdani seems to be a savvy political operator. Remember how he had Trump mesmerized when they talked? This announcement didn’t come out of nowhere, I’m sure Mamdani has his reasons to announce this right now. I think it’s likely that Mamdani is trying to send a message to Jeffries. Yes, this is a public endorsement now, but Mamdani could change his mind, and the amount of press this is getting for a relatively minor announcement should be an indicator to Jeffries that he might not be able to hold on to his Leadership position while still ignoring progressives, since Mamdani is such a public figure in the progressive movement and his endorsement is meaningful.
I would Trust in the Zohran, he knows what he’s doing.
Yeah, we don’t do that any more. Trust died in 2016. Now if you want us to change our minds, you’ll have to tell us why.
And in this case, it better be a pretty fucking good reason.