LIZ PEEK: How the left’s embrace of Mamdani could doom Democrats nationwide
Hakeem Jeffries has made it official: Zohran Mamdani, antisemitic socialist, is now the face of the Democratic Party.
Democrats are in trouble. Having your party hijacked by far-left fanatics is OK in New York, and a couple of other progressive hotbed states, like California or Washington. But for most of the country, the idea that a 34-year-old jihadi-friendly Muslim with zero work experience could become the mayor of New York City – the citadel of capitalism — is horrifying. That House Minority Leader Jeffries, one of the Democrats’ top officials, endorsed the absurd Mamdani, will haunt the party.
Here’s a reality check: only 26% of the country describes themselves as “liberal” or “very liberal.” Some 32% say they are “moderate” and the balance – 33% — describe themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative.” In other words, the leftists now directing the Democrat Party are putting all their eggs in one small basket, and risk alienating nearly two-thirds of Americans. That is a truly terrible marketing plan. Just ask the makers of Bud Light.
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Democrat leaders are not leading, they are caving. For weeks, Jeffries pretended to give the matter serious consideration. His Hamletian dithering riveted political junkies, but there was never any doubt that Jeffries would fall in line with his fellow New York pols, nearly all of whom have endorsed State Assemblyman Mamdani and all of whom are terrified of the progressive wing of their party.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of the few remaining hold-outs, will almost surely be the next to bend the knee. Schumer, too, has been noncommittal, even though his political future clearly hangs in the balance.
The New York senator has long been one of the staunchest supporters of Israel. There are well over 1 million Jews living in New York; Schumer, who is Jewish, is deeply committed to that community and one of the top recipients of campaign donations from pro-Israel groups, raking in almost $2 million dollars between 1990 and 2024.
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Though Mamdani has backtracked on some of his more outrageous anti-Israel or antisemitic comments, he has yet to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” which is effectively a call to wipe out Jews. He also is steadfast in his incendiary threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he set foot in New York.
Schumer infuriated the left earlier this year when he helped Republicans pass a spending bill; progressives want their elected representatives to resist the Trump administration on all matters, even if it hurts the country. Schumer did the right thing but was slammed for it.
He is now paying a stiff price, and it could cost him his job. Consider Schumer’s fundraising. The New York Post reports that “the Brooklyn Democrat brought in just $133,000 during the three months ending Sept. 30” and compares that paltry sum to the $4.5 million raised over the same period by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the flashy “Squad” member. AOC may challenge Schumer in the Democratic primary when his Senate seat comes up in 2029. AOC is coy about her intentions, but her lefty fans are encouraging her to run and a May survey of the hypothetical head-to-head contest showed AOC crushing Schumer by 21 percentage points.
Now, Sen. Schumer risks further alienating the left if he doesn’t back Mamdani. The last time he faced such a dilemma was four years ago when he held out on endorsing India Walton, the Democratic Socialist running to become mayor of Buffalo. In that contest, he finally buckled just days ahead of the vote, which Walton lost to a write-in candidate, mewling that she won the Democratic primary “fair and square” and that she has “always believed that the Democratic Party is a big tent.”
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Meanwhile, the rest of the country, outside the festering progressive terrain of New York City, must be aghast at a Democrat tent which now accommodates antisemites, homophobes, racists, would-be murderers, Nazis and Socialists.
There’s a candidate, Graham Platner, who is running in the Democratic primary for the chance to challenge Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins. He once sported a Nazi tattoo on his chest (which he has since covered up) and has a history of making anti-gay insults. Astonishingly, he looks to have the edge on rival Gov. Janet Mills.
Jay Jones, the Democrat running for attorney general in Virginia, three years ago sent text messages in which he fantasized about a Republican adversary “getting two bullets to the head,” and hoping that the GOP lawmaker’s children “die in their mother’s arms.” Surely that’s a bad look for a fellow running to be the top law enforcement official in his state.
And what about Massachusetts’ Rep. Ayanna Presley saying, “There is nothing more terrifying than a White man with a gun,” or Rep. Jasmine Chrockett of Texas dismissing some of her fellow Democrats as “White boys.” Are such comments acceptable? Would a Republican get away with denigrating colleagues as “Black boys”?
Of course not, but Democrats look the other way at all these outrages, terrified to call out their own radicals.
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But for Democrats today, socialism is not radical. Gallup reports that while most Americans still support capitalism, two-thirds of Democrats now embrace socialism, a system that has literally failed every time it has been adopted, leaving poverty and corruption in its wake. Unhappily, that’s not what AOC or Mamdani or others were taught in our schools.
Yes, the far left will succeed in New York, or California, where Democrats far outnumber Republicans. But of the eight House seats currently held by Republicans that are considered toss-ups by the Cook Political report and that Democrats are targeting, none is in New York or the Golden State.
They are in states like Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona where voters are probably not too keen on socialism, or antisemitism.
That’s why election experts say the midterms, which usually favor the party out of power, look evenly matched and control of the House is a toss-up.
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