Yesterday, on one of the Sunday shows, 79 days before one of the most consequential elections of his career, Hakeem Jeffries:
The snippet below is the root cause — DC centrists and their consultants have decided that their best and most proper work 79 days prior to the election is to shit on the DSA. You may have heard of the DSA — they’re the folks winning elections and exciting voters.
James Fallows called this one:
Fallows is right, Jeffries knows better, but he clearly wants to pick this fight. As a general rule, if you want to see establishment Democrats fight, just get them a challenge from the left.
I’m wondering what Mamdani’s position will be in 2028 on a primary challenger for Jeffries. This was his 2026 position:
Before Mamdani launched his mayoral campaign, Ossé was New York’s most successful influencer elected official. The youngest member of the City Council, he successfully wielded front-facing videos to become New York City famous and to pass a law ending most broker fees. [Chi] Ossé was an early-ish endorser of Mamdani’s campaign, lending Mamdani his social media chops. But the relationship grew tense when Ossé seriously considered challenging House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – an avowed enemy of the Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani went to great lengths to stop Ossé from launching a campaign, arguing that Ossé would lose, and the effort would distract from the left’s big chance to show they can govern effectively with a socialist mayor. The whole ordeal famously got Ossé disinvited from Mamdani’s election night party in November.
Mamdani clearly knows New York City politics, since he backed Daraliza Chevalier’s successful primary challenge of Rep Adriano Espailliat, which was considered a tough push. So he was probably right that Jeffries couldn’t be beat in 2026. Give the guy two uninspiring years as Speaker, and we’ll see where we’re at in 2028. Ditto for Schumer if by some act of the deity we win the Senate.
