Pressure grows on top Democrats to endorse Mamdani as Trump intervenes in NYC mayor’s race

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN

New York (CNN) — As President Donald Trump tried to push candidates out of the New York City’s mayoral race, a longtime state senator called on other Democrats to put aside differences with Zohran Mamdani, who has roiled the party since his stunning win in June’s mayoral primary.

“Whether you agree with every one of his policy proposals or not,” wrote state Sen. Liz Krueger in her Friday statement endorsing Mamdani, “there is simply no question that he is committed to serving the interests of regular New Yorkers, not his own interests and especially not the interests of Donald Trump, who has made it clear this week that his preferred candidate is Andrew Cuomo.”

Still, many top Democrats in New York are still declining to endorse Mamdani, bucking the tradition of backing a party primary winner even as holdouts face growing pressure from key voices.

Among those holding out still are House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Both are from Brooklyn, the borough where Mamdani will rally Saturday with independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a native Brooklynite.

Trump’s declaration that two candidates should drop out of the race came as his aides negotiated with Mayor Eric Adams over an ambassadorship or other potential role in his administration. Adams dropping out could help Cuomo, running as an independent after he was upset by Mamdani in the June primary, to consolidate opposition against the democratic socialist. Any real or implied association with Trump could also hurt the former governor in deeply blue New York City.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a longtime Sanders ally who endorsed Mamdani during the primary, suggested Democratic Party elders were setting a bad example.

“Are we a party who rallies behind our nominee or not?” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on the steps of the Capitol Thursday. “I am very concerned about the example that is being set by anybody in our party. 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.”

Jon Favreau, co-host of the popular liberal podcast “Pod Save America,” described the lack of top endorsements as “pathetic.”

“Donald Trump’s going to try to get Eric Adams out of the race so he can help Andrew Cuomo,” Favreau said. “Meanwhile, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer have not yet endorsed the candidate who won the Democratic primary in New York City, the choice of the Democratic voters. Because why, because they don’t want to get involved in a primary in a city, in the state they represent?”

Jeffries and Mamdani are still building a relationship

Appearing on Don Lemon’s YouTube channel this week, Jeffries was asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism.

“I just haven’t weighed in one way or the other, but stay tuned,” Jeffries told Lemon, adding: “We’ll have more to say about it sometime soon.”

Mamdani and Jeffries did not have a relationship prior to the race, something that both camps are eager to point out when fielding questions about Jeffries’ lack of an endorsement.

Sources familiar with ongoing conversations about the endorsement on both sides told CNN that the public threat by Mamdani’s democratic socialist allies to primary Jeffries and other congressmen has not helped move conversations along. Mamdani has also faced questions over his ties to democratic socialists and his criticism of Israel.

While advisers for Jeffries have previously dismissed the idea that they are threatened by talk of a primary challenge, the party’s most liberal flank is eager to point out the group has made inroads in Jeffries’ district.

Both Jeffries and Mamdani have spoken at least four times, including by phone shortly after Mamdani clinched the nomination in June and at a one-on-one meeting in East New York.

On a recent afternoon, Mamdani walked into Cornerstone Baptist Church, one of the city’s oldest Black churches located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the heart of Jeffries’ district.

According to the Rev. Rashad Raymond Moore, one of the pastors in attendance, the meeting was billed as an introduction of Mamdani. For some of the congregation leaders it was the first time they were meeting him.

“For the most part, people were receptive. There was no tension; this was an opportunity to hear him out.” Moore said.

The clergy meeting was seen by some members of the community as an opening for Mamdani to continue reaching out to the city’s Black voters, specifically older New Yorkers who might still be skeptical about his policies and proposals and view his association with the Democratic Socialists of America as a red flag.

“There were some that asked him about connection to DSA and where does he stand on that,” Moore said. “He was clear, he said DSA is his political home, but his agenda and the DSA agenda is not a one-to-one.”

Moore, who has met with Mamdani a handful of times, said he was disappointed to see the church meeting did not lead up to an endorsement.

“The country is under the threat of fascism, now Trump meddling in the election, it is very clear that this is real, and in a moment like this an endorsement from the federal leaders would send a message,” he added.

Hochul and other lawmakers are holding out

Jeffries’ reticence spreads to some other members of New York City’s congressional delegation. Reps. Yvette Clarke, Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres have not said they plan to support Mamdani. Rep. Gregory Meeks, who endorsed Cuomo in the primary, has also remained silent along with Rep. Grace Meng, who represents parts of Queens.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani have had “a number of conversations,” Hochul said recently, and the two have met in person. Speaking separately to a Politico reporter, Hochul dismissed the talks between Adams and Trump aides with a profanity.

Still, she has not made an endorsement.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a left-leaning Bronx Democrat who has been a fierce critic of Cuomo, said he was disappointed in the lack of support for Mamdani especially given Trump’s threats against the city and the impact of policy changes on the social safety net.

“The fact is that (Mamdani) has been able to energize so many folks in our in our party who are not usually mobilized,” Rivera told CNN. “So we should learn from that. I think that every single member of Congress or every single member of the Democratic Party who still calls themselves a Democrat has to be asking themselves, why are they not supporting this?”

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