A new ad campaign paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) targets New York and New Jersey Democrats following House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' endorsement of Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor.
"'Leader' Hakeem Jeffries just handed the keys to radical socialist Zohran Mamdani, and now out of touch Democrats are painfully tied to their party's new leader. Every single one of them owns the socialist agenda and is now a willing accomplice in their own party's collapse," NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole said in a press release.
Jeffries, the powerful Brooklyn Democrat, endorsed Mamdani on Friday after he had resisted backing the socialist candidate for months.
In a statement, he said the two had "areas of principled disagreement" but said Mamdani won a "free and fair" Democratic primary and that the party needed to unite against an "existential" threat from President Donald Trump.
"Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy," Jeffries wrote.
He added: "In that spirit, I support him and the entire citywide Democratic ticket in the general election."
The NRCC's ad, which is set to air in 12 congressional districts in New York and seven districts in New Jersey, features a picture of the hammer and sickle, symbols associated with communism.
Trump has criticized Mamdani as a "communist" and a "100% communist lunatic."
The president has also threatened that if Mamdani becomes mayor and tries to limit cooperation with federal agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), then "we'll have to arrest him."
Lawmakers targeted in the ad include Reps. Nellie Pou of New Jersey and Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen, Josh Riley, and John Mannion of New York. Challengers include Rebecca Bennett, Megan O'Rourke, Michael Roth, Tina Shah, Brian Varela, and Greg Vartan of New Jersey, and John Cappello, Peter Chatzky, Effie Phillips-Staley, Jessica Reinmann, Mike Sacks, John Sullivan, and Pat Ryan of New York.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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