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.
Ooooof. Mamdani is overall good, but he was never going to be the absolutist we need him to be.
We don’t need an absolutist, we need progressives gaining power and using it. There’s going to be some compromises, until the establishment Dems are the ones making compromises with the left
Mamdani is generally killing it out there, but this is a baffling compromise. I hated reading this.
But Mamdani has earned some trust, so maybe there’s a deeper play going on here… I’m willing to keep faith and hope this isn’t what it looks like on the surface
And that’s really what it’s all about. Earning trust by using power for the people, because politics isn’t always simple and clear
Backroom deals are shady as hell, but they are the reality. But on the flip side, no one is going to understand something like a climate action plan, or even universal healthcare… Not until we’re living through the details
You have to earn trust to spend it wisely so you are in a position to do more to earn even more trust… Especially now, when trust in government is basically non-existent
You can be an absolutist and never get anything done. Or you can accomplish things. Jeffries needs to go absolutely. His response to getting caught out was so cringe and bad, that would be justification enough. But till he’s out. Mamdani is going to have to work with him some to accomplish things. Would it be awesome if Mamdani could virtue signal without repercussions?
But for now he just needs to keep accomplishing things. If he stops accomplishing things and even trying to. While being buddy buddy and cordial with these horrible people. That’s when you come for him. Till then. Let him get his community free child care and clean the Subways or patch potholes and all the other things the people need.
First, what things are we talking about. Did biden get anything done? Not really.
Second, that’s not how it works, the lefter side of the party is constantly blamed when the centre loses. As long as we keep reaching out to them for scraps, scraps is all we’ll ever get.
Heck it wasn’t until extremely late in the piece, when mamdani was already way ahead in polls that Jeffries showed support for him.
It’s quite clear Jeffries does not support mamdani. No amount of begging at his table will change that
Actually he in arguably did. It’s silly to claim he didn’t. The problem is the bad far outweighed the good.
This is exactly how it works. Do you think anyone is largely going to support you if you don’t get anything done. And are just as loud and abrasive as the people with baseless accusations? They’re going to think you both suck. Mandani, they’ll be able to point to his accomplishments to see the criticisms are bullshit.
Mamdani isn’t begging. He’s just not kicking and antagonizing a dog he can’t get rid of by himself. Get someone young, left, and even mildly charismatic to primary Jeffries. Then watch Mamdani endorse them. He has no love or loyalty to Jeffries. But he knows he already has enough enemies and doesn’t need to actively make more. I don’t know what world you live in that you elect people just to go yell at other people. When I vote for someone it’s because I want them to do their actual job. I don’t care if they’re loud or obnoxious to people I don’t like. If they do the job they were elected to well. That matters more. Serving the public. Not generating sound bites. If you think being loud and abrasive are the only requirements for office. Then you should love the MAGA candidates. That’s pretty much their whole thing.