House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries repeatedly sidestepped questions on Thursday about whether he supports Democratic New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda.
Jeffries expressed notable frustration during a lengthy interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” after anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin attempted to pin down the lead Democrat on Mamdani’s candidacy and the avowed socialist’s far-left policy vision. Jeffries’ decision to dodge questions about Mamdani’s views and downplay the significance of the rise of his party’s socialist nominee comes as the top House Democrat has thus far avoided giving into monthslong pressure to endorse Mamdani.
“I’m trying to understand why you would spend a significant amount of time asking me about the Democratic nominee who’s not even the mayor,” Jeffries said after Sorkin asked four questions probing Jeffries’ opinion of Mamdani and his views on socialism.
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Mamdani has become the face of the far-left wing of the Democratic Party following his upset win in the New York City Democratic primary against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Jeffries — whose House district is located entirely in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn — met with the Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate in July but declined to issue an endorsement afterwards.
He has since spoken positively about the socialist candidate’s focus on affordability issues, but skirted a series of questions Wednesday about whether he agrees with Mamdani’s far-left policy solutions.
“I’m curious where you land on things like, you know, freezing rents, free buses, giving away, you know, free food at supermarkets and the like, and what you just think of that idea and what it represents?” Sorkin asked Jeffries.
Jeffries dodged the question, arguing that it was up to Mamdani to persuade the New York City electorate to back his socialist platform.
“Listen, Zohran is going to have to make the case to the people of New York City, including in the neighborhoods that I represent, that these ideas, which are designed to address affordability in New York City, and that as a top line effort is important,” Jeffries said. “The cost of living is the number one issue here in the city, number one issue across the country.”
“But do you agree with the approaches as a solution?” Sorkin interjected.
Jeffries answered without saying if he agreed with Mamdani’s policies, but said that he saw a role for the private sector in addressing rising housing costs.
“Here’s what my solution would be, and I’ve said this directly to him, and will continue to say it to policymakers across the city, the state and the country: We have a situation in New York City and across America where the demand for housing that is affordable greatly exceeds the supply — that’s a problem,” Jeffries said. “So we have to build our way out of this problem, that’s all hands on deck, that’s city, that’s state, that’s federal, that also means a meaningful partnership with the private sector.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, hammered Jeffries’ attempts to avoid sharing his personal views about Mamdani’s and declining to condemn socialism.
“‘Leader’ Hakeem Jeffries’ hissy fit says all we need to know: he’s more upset about being asked about socialism than he is about socialism itself,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “The Democrat Party is being run by its most extreme members, and Jeffries is their spineless figurehead.”
The NRCC announced a new ad campaign Wednesday tying vulnerable Democratic incumbents to Mamdani’s socialist views and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ advocacy to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mamdani is leading the crowded mayoral race by nearly 20 percentage points, followed by Cuomo at 25%, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa at 12%, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams at 7%, according to a Siena College poll released Tuesday.
Nicole Silverio contributed to this report.
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