Chuck Schumer Stops Short of Endorsing Zohran Mamdani, House Dem Rips As ‘Too Extreme’
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reacted to Zohran Mamdani’s apparent win in the Democratic Party primary for mayor of New York City on Tuesday night with a very lukewarm acknowledgement on Wednesday.
Schumer, the top-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, wrote on X, “I have known Zohran Mamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity.”
He added, “I spoke with @ZohranKMamdani this morning and am looking forward to getting together soon.”
Notably missing from Schumer’s post was a message of congratulations or a resounding endorsement for Mamdani’s candidacy in the general election.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) did congratulate Mamdani on his win, but stopped short of an endorsement in his post on the race.
“Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on a decisive primary victory. Assemblyman Mamdani ran a strong campaign that relentlessly focused on the economy and bringing down the high cost of living in New York City. We spoke this morning and plan to meet in Central Brooklyn shortly,” Jeffries wrote on X.
A House Democrat representing parts of Long Island, Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY), slammed Mamdani, who is a Democratic Socialist, as “too extreme to lead” the city in a statement on Wednesday.
“Socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City. His entire campaign has been built on unachievable promises and higher taxes, which is the last thing New York needs,” Gillen wrote, adding:
Beyond that, Mr. Mamdani has called to defund the police and has demonstrated a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing. He is the absolute wrong choice for New York.
Mamdani’s win sparked a wave of angry condemnation on the right, as MAGA influencers like Charlie Kirk attacked his religion. “24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City,” Kirk wrote on X, drawing swift backlash and accusations of Islamophobia.
