Progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., chastised Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for not “following his own advice” and endorsing democratic socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
During an interview Thursday on CNN, Omar said Schumer’s silence made “no sense,” pointing out that the Democrat leader has often pressured others in his party to rally behind their nominees.
“We as Democrats have always believed that, in an election, we support our party’s nominee,” Omar told CNN’s Kasie Hunt.
“Schumer has pressured other Democrats to do just that, and he should be following his own advice.”
Omar’s comments come as the Democratic Party remains divided over Mamdani’s candidacy.
He’s an outspoken democratic socialist whose platform includes rent freezes, expanded welfare programs, and a massive expansion of the city’s public sector.
Schumer so far has refused to endorse the 34-year-old New York State assemblyman, even after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., threw his support behind the party’s nominee last week.
Omar suggested Schumer’s hesitation could be influenced by anti-Muslim sentiment, calling the “tsunami of anti-Muslim attacks” against Mamdani “deeply concerning.”
She added that the Senate Democrat leader should show support for “the million Muslims who live in New York City and the millions who live in New York and in America.”
Omar dismissed criticism that Mamdani was slow to denounce the slogan “Globalize the intifada,” saying accusations of antisemitism have been “overused to the point of absurdity.”
She argued Mamdani has “a huge coalition of Jewish voters” behind him, along with Muslim and young voters who “see hope in the kind of progress he could create.”
Mamdani has embraced his democratic socialist label, staging a fiery Queens rally last weekend alongside fellow progressives Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
He promised to “freeze rents,” “hire thousands of new teachers,” and “take on billionaires,” declaring his campaign a “movement of the masses.”
Sanders hailed him as a candidate for “working families, not the billionaire class.”
But Mamdani’s rise has alarmed moderates and conservatives alike. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now running as an independent, warned that Mamdani’s agenda would devastate the city’s economy and drive residents to “book airline tickets for Florida now.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has seized on the Democrats’ infighting with a new ad campaign blasting Jeffries and other party members for aligning with “radical socialist Zohran Mamdani.”
The ad, airing across New York and New Jersey, accuses Democrats of “handing the keys to the far left,” displaying imagery of the hammer and sickle to underscore the party’s lurch toward socialism.
“Every single one of them owns the socialist agenda,” NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said in a statement. “They’re now willing accomplices in their own party’s collapse.”
President Donald Trump also weighed in, labeling Mamdani a “100% communist lunatic.” He warned that if Mamdani attempts to block cooperation with federal law enforcement, “we’ll have to arrest him.”
With Election Day approaching, Schumer’s silence speaks volumes: Even the Senate’s top Democrat seems unwilling to publicly embrace the radical agenda reshaping his own party’s biggest city.
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