Jeffries unfazed by Mamdani candidate wins

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday rejected the notion that primary victories by democratic socialist candidates with the endorsement of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani might hurt the Democrats in the midterms.

Mamdani-backed candidates won three Democratic House primaries in New York on Tuesday, with two knocking out incumbent lawmakers Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat. Media coverage of the elections broadly interpreted the results as a sign of the party's drift toward socialism and some have speculated that it could hurt them in November.

Speaking to reporters, Jeffries dismissed the notion that Republicans could use the socialist victories as electoral fodder, highlighting President Donald Trump's own willingness to work with Mamdani.

“No, Donald Trump has a working relationship with the mayor of the city of New York, and he’s made that publicly and explicitly clear to America not once but twice in the Oval Office,” he said.

As to the endorsements issue, Jeffries indicated that he remained on good terms with Mamdani.

“The mayor and I agree to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he’s got work to do in terms of the conversations that he’s going to have with members of Congress moving forward,” he added.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.