Republicans are criticizing major Democratic Party figures for hitching their wagons to the campaign of self-proclaimed socialist and Democrat nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, specifically targeting House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

On Friday, Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, became the most senior national Democrat to endorse the state assemblyman from Queens. “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 in a statement to The New York Times. 

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told The Daily Signal, “Hakeem Jeffries, [New York Gov.] Kathy Hochul, and New York Democrats have allowed the radical left wing to take over the Democrat Party,” in response to their endorsements of Mamdani.

“They are so afraid of primary challenges [that] they would sell out our city to socialists for self-preservation,” Malliotakis added.

New York native and political commentator Ryan Girdusky spoke to The Daily Signal about Jeffries’ last-minute endorsement before the Nov. 4 election. 

“In the long term, Jeffries is looking for a way to survive, and this is not going to be it,” Girdusky said.

“He’s trying to hold some kind of coalition of the far Left away from him to make peace with them in order to avoid a serious challenge that will make him lose his seat,” Girdusky said. “That’s going to be very unsuccessful. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mamdani still supported a challenger to Jeffries.”

Jeffries joins the growing list of prominent socialist and Democrat leaders supporting Mamdani. That list includes Hochul; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Hochul, Ocasio-Cortez, and Sanders all took the stage to campaign for Mamdani at a rally in Queens Sunday night.

While Hochul was nearly booed off the stage, Ocasio-Cortez received a warmer reception, according to a livestream of the rally Sanders posted online. In her speech, Ocasio-Cortez focused her ire on President Donald Trump.

“We must remember, in a time such as this, we are not the crazy ones, New York City. We are not the outlandish ones,” she said. “They want us to think we are crazy. We are sane to demand affordable and decent housing, a decent wage, the right to health care, and to care for our people.”

In his speech, Mamdani shared his vision for the city.

“We are going to freeze the rent for more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants and use every resource at our disposal to build housing for every person who needs it,” Mamdani said. “We are going to eliminate the fare on every signal bus line … create universal childcare at no cost to parents, so New Yorkers can raise their families in the city they love.”

Malliotakis told The Daily Signal that these policies will come back to haunt national Democrats. “They will pay dearly for this in votes and congressional seats,” the representative claimed. “So will New York City residents, who will see public safety, affordability, and quality of life continue to evaporate.”

Mamdani is not the only candidate looking for a last-second boost from major endorsements. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running as an independent and Mamdani’s main rival in the race, recently secured the endorsement of current Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

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