‘talk About Affordability’: Warren Boosts Mamdani As Model For Democratic Victory

NEW YORK — Elizabeth Warren doesn’t have a problem with Zohran Mamdani being the face of the Democrats. In fact, she wants the rest of the party to follow his example on affordability.

The progressive senator from Massachusetts swung by New York City on Monday to pay homage to Mamdani, who overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination for mayor in June — but still hasn’t secured endorsements from many of New York’s party leaders.

“Come talk about affordability for families,” Warren said at an affordable childcare event, when asked to respond to the democratic socialist’s many detractors. “This is who Democrats fight for, and Zohran is on the front lines in that fight out there fighting for families.”

Asked if Mamdani is what the Democratic Party should look like, the senator responded with an emphatic and signature “you bet.”

Warren is the latest from the party’s liberal wing to fall fully behind Mamdani — in stark contrast to Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who are all treading more carefully. The mainstream Democrats’ concern, among many, is that Mamdani will be a liability in the midterms, with the party desperate to retake the House majority and moderate Democrats battling for their political lives in swing districts.

Since his stunning primary victory, the Queens state lawmaker has been a key political foil for President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans who portray him as emblematic of a Democratic Party that has shifted too far to the left.

Some Democratic leaders have also been worried about associating too closely with a literal socialist amid competitive races where Republicans label all Democrats with that tag. Mamdani’s criticism of Israel, his past calls to “defund the police” (which he has walked back) and his push to raise the state’s top corporate tax rate are just a few reasons why establishment Dems are keeping their distance.

Jeffries, Schumer and others have also referenced Mamdani’s refusal to reject the phrase “globalize the intifada” as reason for concern. Jeffries met last month with Mamdani in Brooklyn but committed only to a continued dialogue.

While mainstream elected officials are taking a wait-and-see approach, progressives have embraced Mamdani. 

Warren — a 2020 candidate for president who has built her political brand on a push for universal childcare — boosted Mamdani on Monday in a Rolling Stone opinion piece. And she made clear at the childcare event that she believes Mamdani’s focus on driving down the cost of living should be the way forward for Democrats. Many political strategists believe the party lost the White House and both chambers of Congress last year over their failure to adequately address that priority.

Monday’s event on the need for publicly funded childcare, held at the lower Manhattan headquarters of the District Council 37 labor union, included advocates for immigrant and low-income communities sharing stories about choosing between paying for groceries and daycare — and also served as a reminder of what fueled Mamdani’s 12-point win over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary. In a nod to the scarcity of coverage for families who need low-cost childcare, toddlers ran around the room as Warren, Mamdani and DC 37 executive director Henry Garrido spoke.

Warren and Mamdani appeared together while congressional Democrats, led by Jeffries, plan to spend their recess weeks spotlighting rollbacks to health care and food aid in Trump’s spending megabill.

Warren joins Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in boosting Mamdani and his message as the way forward for the Democratic Party. Establishment Democrats have applauded Mamdani’s focus on making New York less expensive for working-class families but have been reluctant to publicly support him.

“If we want this city to be a place where New Yorkers can raise their kids, then we have to make it so,” Mamdani said. “And the context that we are in today is one where, after housing, childcare is the cost that is pushing New Yorkers out of these five boroughs.”