House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hesitated to endorse Democratic New York City mayor contender Zohran Mamdani but praised his 鈥渟uccessful鈥 campaign and messaging.
鈥淚 have not,鈥 Jeffries said when asked by 鈥淭his Week鈥 co-anchor Jonathan Karl if he had endorsed Mamdani.
Jeffries said he spoke to Mamdani on Wednesday but plans to meet in person soon in Central Brooklyn.
鈥淚 congratulated him on the campaign that he ran, a campaign that clearly was relentlessly focused on the high cost of living in New York City and the economy. He outworked, he out communicated, and he out organized the opposition, and that’s clearly why he was successful,鈥 he said.
Pressed on why he鈥檚 holding back from endorsing Mamdani, Jeffries said, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 really know each other well.鈥
鈥淲ell, our districts don’t overlap. I have never had a substantive conversation with him. And so that’s the next step in terms of this process 鈥 to discuss his vision for moving the city forward and addressing the issues that are important to the communities that I represent,鈥 he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.