Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York Metropolis mayor on Friday, in the future earlier than early voting begins Saturday.
In a last-minute assertion to The New York Times, Jeffries stated it’s time to unite towards the “existential” risk of President Donald Trump.
“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly targeted on addressing the affordability disaster and explicitly dedicated to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, together with those that don’t help his candidacy,” Jeffries stated within the assertion.
“In that spirit, I help him and the whole citywide Democratic ticket within the basic election,” Jeffries added.
The endorsement comes after months of strain for Jeffries and different Democratic leaders to endorse Mamdani, a state assemblymember and democratic socialist who current polling exhibits is prone to win the mayoral race.
Mamdani is up towards former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who he trounced within the Democratic mayoral main in June. Cuomo, who is now running as an independent, in the end resigned from his job as governor in 2021 over sexual harassment allegations.
In a Wednesday debate, Mamdani made certain to remind Cuomo of the allegations towards him.
“In 2021, 13 totally different girls who labored in your administration credibly accused you of sexual harassment,” Mamdani said during the exchange. “Since then, you will have spent greater than $20 million in taxpayer funds to defend your self all whereas describing these allegations as completely political. You’ve gotten even gone as far as to legally go after these girls. A kind of girls, Charlotte Bennett, is right here within the viewers this night. You sought to entry her non-public gynecological data.”
Cuomo has denied the allegations, and responded to Mamdani by saying that the circumstances towards him have been dropped. He didn’t point out that he paid $450,000 to settle a lawsuit from an ex-aide who alleged he sexually harassed and groped her whereas he was in workplace.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from New York Metropolis ought to Mamdani win.
“Self proclaimed New York Metropolis Communist, Zohran Mamdani, who’s operating for Mayor, will show to be among the best issues to ever occur to our nice Republican Celebration,” Trump posted on Fact Social final month. “He’s going to have issues with Washington like no Mayor within the historical past of our as soon as nice Metropolis.”
Trump repeated his speaking level throughout a White Home roundtable on Thursday, whereas additionally acknowledging Mamdani’s probably win.
“And now it appears to be like like they’ll have a communist mayor in New York,” Trump stated. “That’ll be quite a lot of enjoyable. However keep in mind this: they must undergo the White Home.”
