Hakeem Jeffries has awkward pause when asked about not endorsing Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race
WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries paused awkwardly as he was forced to admit live on the air Sunday that he still hasn’t endorsed the New York City mayoral front-runner.
But Jeffries teased that he will “have more to say about” the socialist mayoral candidate this week, before his self-imposed Oct. 25 deadline at the start of early voting in the Big Apple.
Jeffries (D-NY) demurred over what was taking so long as he was asked if he had endorsed the polarizing candidate.
“I have not,” Jeffries told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
“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,” he continued. “And we’ll certainly have more to say about the mayor’s race and about our Democratic nominee prior to early voting beginning.”
Early voting in the mayoral race begins on Oct. 25 and will last through Nov. 2, with Election Day taking place two days later.
Jeffries, who was in Los Angeles on Saturday, has long pointed to the early voting start date as his timeframe for making an announcement on Mamdani.
The Brooklyn Democrat has met with Mamdani at least twice as he weighs what to do in the mayoral race.
Other top Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have been similarly skittish about backing Mamdani, given his far-left agenda.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) endorsed him, but Mamdani has so far declined to return the favor and back her heading into the 2026 reelection bid.
Jeffries has previously hinted at some of his reservations with Mamdani, suggesting in June that the socialist hopeful needs to clarify his position on the phrase, “Globalize the intifada.”
Over the summer, resurfaced remarks from Mamdani showed him trashing Jeffries and likening the highest-ranking black House lawmaker in US history to notorious segregationist George Wallace.
“After at least 2,251 Palestinians were killed over the course of July 2014, Hakeem Jeffries got on stage at a rally in NYC and paraphrased George Wallace. ‘Israel today, Israel tomorrow, Israel forever,’” Mamdani fumed in a November 2022 X post.
Video from December 2023 showed Mamdani asking publicly Jeffries, “How many more Palestinians must be killed before you call for a ceasefire?”
During his interview with ABC News on Sunday, Jeffries also stood by Democrats’ decision to reject an offer from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to get a standalone vote on extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies in exchange for and after Dems stop blocking a measure to reopen the government.
“I think what we’ve said is that we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill,” Jeffries jabbed. “Republicans have repeatedly voted against extending those tax credits because they care more about George Santos and freeing him than they do about providing health care to everyday Americans.”
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