With Mamdani Endorsements, Dems Finally Admit They’re Socialists

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City late last week, joining the growing list of endorsements and obvious support from other prominent Democrats like New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. This string of endorsements and praise of a socialist proves that socialism isn’t merely tolerated inside the Democrat Party anymore — it is the Democrat Party, and Republicans are failing to realize it.

For years, mainstream Democrats have tried to claim that socialists like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were merely loud voices on the outskirts of an otherwise mainstream Democrat party. Or, like Jeffries, they hide behind claims that they disagree with the likes of Mamdani in “principle,” while supporting the “spirit” of his positions.

Following Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 upset against longtime incumbent Joe Crowley, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said socialism was “ascendant in that district perhaps,” but not in the Democrat Party, according to CBS News. Pelosi has also (as described by Politico) “feared the Squad’s demands would imperil hard-won Democratic control.”

Democrat Rep. Alcee Hastings said of Ocasio-Cortez: “Meteors fizz out,” The Hill reported.

But the fizzle didn’t materialize. In fact, it appears the opposite has happened. A recent poll conducted by the left-wing Data for Progress and summarized by Politico found that “more than half of likely Democratic voters prefer socialist-aligned figures like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani to establishment politicians like Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jefrries [sic] and Nancy Pelosi.”

When the Democrat base has shifted hard left, and top Democrat leaders rally behind a devout socialist who rejects the principles of the founding, primarily those of property rights, the claim that the socialist wing of the party doesn’t represent the whole simply doesn’t hold up. Party leadership made its choice, and it’s not a moderate one.

So how are Congressional Republicans responding? By releasing the equivalent of a strongly worded letter.

Axios reported Tuesday that “Republicans plan to ‘weaponize’ Mamdani in 2026.”

According to a National Republican Congressional Committee memo Axios obtained, Republicans plan to “make Zohran Mamdani famous in battleground races next November,” supposedly by focusing on his “anti-police,” “anti-capitalism,” and “anti-Israel” extremism.

But the issue isn’t that people don’t know who Mamdani is or what he believes. In fact, Axios noted that an internal July poll found Mamdani had “81% name recognition” in battleground districts but with a “16-point net negative favorability.” In other words, people know who he is. The problem isn’t awareness, the problem is the math. There are enough people who do like Mamdani and his policy positions.

And Republicans’ “exclusive” strategy is apparently to bang the “socialism is bad” drum just a little bit louder next year than they have for decades. Beating that drum didn’t stop Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, other squad members, or even Mamdani because the battle isn’t about ideas. Part of the battle is that the left has successfully normalized socialism to the point that it’s no longer fringe (this is done through endorsements and gradual policy shifts on key issues).

The other truth is that the political ground has changed. Mamdani’s voters were not persuaded; they were imported. A recent poll found Mamdani does best with “foreign-born New Yorkers” rather than “homegrown” Americans, and no amount of attack ads will persuade an imported electorate that is clearly incapable of self-governance.

Republicans can try to spin Mamdani’s impending victory somehow as a moral victory because it will allow them to show the country what socialists believe in, but it’s not. This is a massive loss. Republicans are not up against moderate Democrats who share basic assumptions about America’s institutions and principles. Republicans are up against full-blown socialists who are now backed by the party’s leadership and buoyed by an electorate that has been reshaped by years of mass migration and cultural drift.

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2