To borrow from another son of Brooklyn, and if you don’t know, now you know.
On Friday, House Minority Leader finally endorsed Zohran Mamdani to be mayor of New York City. That being said, the No. 2 elected Democrat in the nation’s endorsement was far from enthusiastic.
“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a Mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries said. “Yet, the stakes are existential.”
The congressman from Crown Heights proceeded to talk about the threat that New York City faced, most recently in the form of the Justice Department targeting state Attorney General Letitia James, who on Friday pleaded not guilty to fraud charges brought by the Department of Justice under the Trump administration.
As always, much of the talk online about why Jeffries withheld his endorsement contained only partial truths. Many people questioned whether Jeffries’ support for Israel and money he has received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee played into his decision.
The truth is more complicated than that. Jeffries, like many Black politicians, never fully trusted progressives. The first time I covered him was when the Congressional Black Caucus’s PAC endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016.
During that endorsement, he lambasted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mamdani’s political mentor, for voting against gun violence provisions. That skepticism bled in Jeffries’s endorsement of Mamdani.
“For decades, working class neighborhoods of color have been hurt by gentrification and housing displacement,” he said. “That must change. I support our nominee’s strong commitment to building a City where everyday New Yorkers can afford to live. By necessity, this must involve a meaningful partnership with the private sector to dramatically increase the supply of affordable homes.”
Sanders hasn’t done much to assuage Black Democrats’ fears about progressive flippancy toward racial justice given Sanders’s angry defense of Graham Platner after comments were unearthed about him asking why Black people do not tip.
But despite his disdain for progressives, the left-wing insurgency landed him his current position in leadership and he’s been on the front lines of the internecine feud within the Democratic Party since Trump’s ascent. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat Joe Crowley, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Jeffries campaigned for the job and won.
That teed him up perfectly for Democratic leadership, being a manager during Trump’s first impeachment. When Nancy Pelosi stepped aside as speaker at the end of the 2022, he received unanimous support from the caucus to succeed her, as midwestern moderates, the Black political establishment and Ocasio-Cortez backed him.
Jeffries has had to deal with tempest of progressives challenging allies of his, as was the case when Cori Bush challenged and beat his friend William Lacy Clay Jr. in Missouri. He offered only tepid support to Squad members Jamaal Bowman in New York and Bush during their primaries last year when they faced gobs of money from pro-Israel groups.
And in his home state, he has to deal with an ascendant left wing and Democratic Socialists of America contingent, including in his district. Had he not endorsed Mamdani, Jeffries would have likely faced a primary.
Jeffries also has to acknowledge the shift within the Democratic Party when it comes to Israel. For many years, support for Israel was considered a sign of solidarity with the Jewish community, a staple within the Democratic coalition.
