House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) still could not commit on Sunday to endorsing Zohran Mamdani, the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist who won his party’s nomination in the New York City Mayoral race.
Jeffries, who’s been asked about endorsing Mamdani on a number of occasions, told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that he was looking forward to “continuing” conversations with Mamdani — and although he didn’t rule out an endorsement altogether, the fast-approaching general election is becoming more and more likely to pass before he does so.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tells @JonKarl that he has not endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate in the New York City mayoral race, but says he is looking forward to “continuing” conversations.
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“I want to also ask you, we’re getting closer to the New York mayor’s race,” Karl began. “You still haven’t endorsed Zohran Mamdani, have you?”
“I have not,” Jeffries declared.
“Why is that?” Karl wondered.
“Well, as I’ve indicated, I expect to have a conversation with him at some point this week, in advance of early voting which begins next weekend in New York City,” Jeffries replied. “And I will certainly have more to say about the mayor’s race and about our Democratic nominee prior to early voting beginning.
Karl continued to press, however, asking, “What is though that has held you back? I mean usually, this is someone that won a Democratic primary, you know, usually it wouldn’t be that much of a question whether or not a Congressman from the city of New York, the Democratic leader would endorse him. What’s giving you pause?”
“Well, we’ve had very good conversations over the last few months in advance if the government shutting down,” Jeffries said, although he did not directly address Karl’s question. Instead he referred to those conversations as “forward-looking,” “community-based,” and focused on “efforts to make New York City more affordable.”
He gave a similar answer when he was asked over the summer whether he’d throw his weight behind Mamdani, saying at the time that he wanted to have “a conversation” with the candidate first.
“Our districts don’t overlap. I have never had a substantive conversation with him. And so that’s the next step in terms of this process to discuss his vision for moving the city forward and addressing the issues that are important to the communities that I represent,” he said, and called on Mamdani directly to “clarify” his position on Israel.
“Globalizing the Intifada, by way of example, is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries concluded. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward. With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development.”
Others have suggested that Jeffries, who represents a district that is 11% Jewish, has concerns about Mamdani’s support for BDS — “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” — against Israel or his claim that, as mayor, he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he came to New York City.
