AOC: Schumer, Jeffries Setting a Bad Example by Not Backing Mamdani

Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested Thursday that the top congressional Democrats—and anyone else in the party refusing to support New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani—are setting a troubling precedent.

Like Ocasio-Cortez, both US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are New York Democrats. Unlike the "Squad" member, who endorsed Mamdani—a democratic socialist currently serving in the state Assembly—before he beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the party's June primary, Schumer and Jeffries have continued to withhold support from their own party's nominee.

"We have a Democratic nominee," Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Thursday. "Are we a party that rallies behind our nominee or not?"

The congresswoman pointed to 2020, when she supported former President Joe Biden once he was the nominee, even though "he was not my preferred candidate in the primary," and last year, when she supported Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden dropped out of the race against President Donald Trump. She explained that she did so "because I am a Democrat and what we do is that we use our primaries to settle our differences, and once we have a nominee, we rally behind that nominee."

"I am very concerned about the example that is being set by anybody in our party" who isn't now supporting Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez said. "I believe that we must set the example of supporting the party's nominee."

"If an individual doesn't want to support the party's nominee now, it complicates their ability to ask voters to support any nominee later, whether that is mayoral, presidential, what have you," she said. "And so I think, for the good of the party, we must put our differences aside and support our party's nominee."

Asked if she's specifically frustrated with Schumer and Jeffries, she responded: "This isn't about personalities... I think that we're in a moment of a Trump administration, the stakes are high, and I want, of course, to see our party come together and stick together, despite our differences."

Ocasio-Cortez isn't the only high-profile member of Congress vocally supporting Mamdani. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination—also endorsed him before his primary win and is now planning a town hall with him on Saturday. It is part of Sanders' Fighting Oligarchy Tour, which has featured various progressive speakers, including Ocasio-Cortez.

While Schumer and Jeffries continue to withhold their support, they haven't gone so far as some Democrats overtly speaking out against the New York City mayoral candidate—such as Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who said in a recent televised interview that "Zohran Mamdani and every other democratic socialist should create their own party because I don't want that in my party."

Jeffries has met with Mamdani twice and was asked about his lack of endorsement earlier this week. He simply said, "Stay tuned."

Noting that Jeffries and Schumer have so far refused to endorse Mamdani, journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote in a Wednesday column for The Guardian, "If you want to understand why the Democrats are polling at their lowest point for more than three decades, look no further than these two uninspiring Democratic leaders in Congress."

After cataloguing how the pair continues to "embarrass themselves, undermine their colleagues, and demoralize their voters," Hasan said that "while younger Democrats like Mamdani and AOC offer energy and charisma, these two lackluster leaders in the House and Senate offer cringe chants and even cringier photo ops."

"It is past time for both Jeffries and Schumer to step down and step aside," he concluded. "This fascist moment, this age of Trump, demands outspoken, unrelenting, and fearless opposition. Whether you are a Democrat, or simply a democrat, we all deserve better."