New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reaffirmed his support for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday, telling a reporter he "continues to support Congressman Jeffries and his bid to become the leader" if Democrats retake the House this fall. The comment landed at a delicate moment for Jeffries, who spent the weekend fielding criticism over a private meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and White House envoy. Mamdani's answer set off a wave of frustration among figures on the party's left flank who had claimed him as their standard-bearer.
Kshama Sawant, a socialist organizer and former Seattle city council member, wrote on social media that Mamdani "continues to support genocidal Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker" despite the Kushner meeting. She argued the Democratic Socialists of America's strategy of working inside the Democratic Party is not working. "The Democratic Party simply offers NO WAY FORWARD for our movements to win victories for working people, defeat Trump and the right wing, and end the genocide and occupation.
The DSA leadership's project of trying to launder the Democratic Party's reputation and build up their own track record of betrayals is a total dead end," she wrote. Journalist Mehdi Hasan, founder of the media company Zeteo, struck a gentler note but still broke with Mamdani. "There are very few issues I disagree with Mamdani on but this is definitely one of them," Hasan wrote, adding that neither Jeffries nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are "cut out for this fascist second-term Trump era." City Council member Chi Ossé, a progressive who considered challenging Hakeem Jeffries in New York's 8th Congressional District but ultimately did not run, framed the episode as evidence of a double standard within the party.
He questioned why progressives face scrutiny from Democratic leadership while the party establishment works with someone he described as an advocate for redeveloping Gaza into “luxury coastal real estate,” referring to Jared Kushner's past comments about the territory's postwar potential. While podcaster and former Bernie Sanders spokesperson Briahna Joy Gray posed a sharper question directly to Mamdani's defenders: if meeting with Kushner makes Jeffries a collaborator, what does unqualified backing for Jeffries make Mamdani? "Zohran has offered unqualified support for Jeffries as speaker.
Also a collaborator?" she wrote on X. Newsweek reached out to the New York City mayor's press office and Jeffries' office for comment Tuesday. The controversy traces back to a New York Times report published Sunday describing a meeting between Kushner and Jeffries focused on areas of potential common ground: housing, immigration, and the cost of living.
Two people familiar with the conversation told the Times that Kushner suggested Jeffries follow up with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Kushner has no formal government post but has represented the administration in negotiations over Gaza, Ukraine and Iran. Reaction from elsewhere in the party was mixed.
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