Mamdani: Democratic socialist candidates ‘can get elected anywhere across this country for any position’
After the candidates he backed swept their democratic congressional primaries, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his democratic socialist message can win nationally.
"I think a democratic socialist can get elected anywhere across this country for any position," Mamdani told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview that aired Sunday.
The three House candidates Mamdani endorsed -- Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander -- won their respective New York races. Lander and Avila Chevalier defeated incumbent Democrats.
"I think we are seeing a hunger that is not just felt by New Yorkers, but frankly by Americans from coast to coast, for a new kind of politics, one that puts working people at the heart of it," Mamdani said.
Pressed by Karl on whether he plans to use his political capital in races outside of New York ahead of the midterms, Mamdani said while he's focused for now on the candidates he endorsed, the issues that resonated in New York are felt across the country.
"It's not just New York City where working people are asking themselves, why can't I afford my rent, why can't I afford my groceries, why can't I find enough money in my pocket for child care, no matter how hard I work?" Mamdani said. "I'm so excited that these incredible soon-to-be congress members will be helping to lead the fight across the country on making sure that working people are right there where they should be, which is the heart of the conversation."
Prominent Democrats have tried to downplay the New York progressives' wins on Tuesday, arguing that the democratic socialist movement can win in liberal New York City, but not in swing districts across the country.
"The effort to nationalize New York is going to fail," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told The Associated Press. "What happened in New York will be really irrelevant by the time of the elections in November."
Mamdani said his "message of fighting for working people" is already "a national message."
"For far too long, all we've had to say as a party is opposition to the current administration. What do we have to say beyond that?" Mamdani said. "What these candidates offer is a vision that extends beyond the midterms, it extends beyond 2028."
Mamdani said he and the candidates he endorsed prove there's room in the Democratic Party for his message.
"I think what makes our party a beautiful party is the fact that it's a big tent that we have people," Mamdani said.
Karl pressed, "But you've also said it has to be a party with a spine, with a backbone,"
"Even a tent has to stay up," Mamdani replied.
"There are some who are offended by the prospect of a party that knows who it fights for and goes every day to work for that, because what we've seen over many years is a willingness to not only explain away the status quo, but frankly, even to look to benefit from the status quo, and that's not what working people are looking for from our party," Mamdani added.
Chevalier, a 32-year-old community activist and political newcomer, has drawn criticism for her past statements, including supporting abolishing prisons, borders and police.
Asked whether her positions can win nationally, Mamdani defended his endorsement.
"I think what the Democratic Party can win on nationally is a focus on working people, and I think that what I saw from Darializa when I would walk the streets of her district was a focus on what she describes as the politics of life," Mamdani said. "She would talk about how we have to invest in babies, not bombs."
Further pressed by Karl on how her support for abolishing prisons and having open borders fits into her campaign, Mamdani said, "I think that we can have disagreements on policy positions."
"So we can disagree on something as basic as whether or not there should be prisons?" Karl asked.
"There are prisons," Mamdani replied. "And what we're also showing in this city is that safety is not something that's up for debate, it is something that we're actually delivering on."
U.S. military support for Israel was a central issue in all three congressional races. Mamdani said the election results show that the Democratic Party should "let Democratic voters themselves take the lead” on the party’s approach towards Israel.
“What New Yorkers want to see is a politics of conscience, a politics of clarity, a politics of conviction and to follow international law, to believe in the humanity of all people,” Mamdani said. “I think that our party needs to hear what Democrats are telling them.”
Mamdani did not directly answer whether he supports a two-state solution -- a Jewish state and a Palestinian state, which has been the mainstream position of the Democratic Party for years.
“The way I see it is equal rights for all people, and I think that that's the truth for Israel,” Mamdani said.
Asked whether he supports Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, Mamdani said he “support[s] the state of Israel as a state with equal rights.”
“But as a Jewish state is the question,” Karl pressed.
“I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can't tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else,” Mamdani replied.
