BURSTSen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) pushed back against Democratic criticism of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in an interview that aired Sunday.
“It seems like the center-left of the party is like, attacking him,” said Dennis Welch, a journalist with the local outlet Arizona’s Family.
“Yeah, I don't know why they're — I don't know why they're attacking him. I think it's stupid when maybe we're not in 100 percent agreement, right? But he has some ideas that are clearly, you know, attracting people. It's OK to say, ‘I disagree with this, this and this, but I agree with that,’” Gallego responded.
“But the idea that we're again, we're just going to throw out people that are really bringing in new ideas to the fold, exciting people just because they're slightly to the right or to the left of us, I think, is dumb,” he added. “The problem with Democrats is that we have been shrinking our tent as much as possible to the point where there's not many people left, and that happens on the left side of our party, and also happens on the right side of the party. And we can't do that.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won his city’s Democratic mayoral primary in June over political heavyweight and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The former governor has since launched a campaign against Mamdani as an independent.
The Democratic mayoral nominee has been facing criticism from members of his own party as he has gained national attention, with New York Rep. Laura Gillen (D) distancing herself from Mamdani shortly after the primary.
“Socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City,” Gillen said in a previous statement. “His entire campaign has been built on unachievable promises and higher taxes, which is the last thing New York needs.”