- cross-posted to:
- usa@midwest.social
- cross-posted to:
- usa@midwest.social
cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/209042
Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he is endorsing fellow democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani for mayor, giving the 33-year-old assemblymember another boost in his challenge to front-runner Andrew Cuomo.
In a statement, Sanders said Mamdani is running “an inspirational grassroots campaign” backed by small-dollar donors and praised his plan to pay for his platform of new affordable housing and free buses through an increased tax on the wealthy and corporations, a staple of the senator’s own political ideology. Sanders notably did not endorse in the 2021 primary and only backed Bill de Blasio during his reelection bid in 2017.
“At this pivotal and dangerous moment in American history, status-quo politics is not good enough. We need the kind of visionary leadership that Zohran is providing in this campaign. In my view, Zohran Mamdani is the best choice for mayor of New York City,” he said.
Mamdani acknowledged Sanders’s support on social media, writing that the veteran progressive senator “has been the single most influential political figure in my life.”
“As mayor, I will strive to live up to his example by fighting for the working class every day and hopefully make Brooklyn’s own proud,” he said.
Speculation about Sanders’s plans to endorse in the race grew after Mamdani received the support of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a longtime friend and ally of Sanders. The two recently embarked on the cross-country Fighting Oligarchy tour together, holding massive rallies in Republican strongholds in an effort to harness voters’ growing opposition to Trump between election years. Our Revolution, the progressive political organization founded by Sanders during his 2016 presidential bid, also announced its own endorsement in the primary, backing Mamdani and Comptroller Brad Lander, who have both cross-endorsed each other in the ranked-choice race.
It’s not yet clear if Sanders will join Mamdani on the campaign trail in the waning days of the race. A 2019 rally for Sanders’s presidential campaign with Ocasio-Cortez drew a reported 26,000 attendees to Queensbridge Park. Over the weekend, Mamdani rallied with the congresswoman at Terminal 5 in Manhattan, attracting thousands of supporters to the venue.
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I’m not gonna ask you to dox yourself but if you don’t live in NY I don’t really care about your opinion here
Most of the time the western left especially here in
deserves every one of the criticisms you’ve made and more but this is not one of those cases
There’s a very short list of politicians who aren’t complete scum in this state
Now you can argue against the libs and zionists in your head like Don Quixote and call me both of those for participating in electoralism at any level but on the other hand my state representative is moving forward on legislation that will make our local power company state owned and control the prices so I’m gonna go with her
Sure, opposing tacit support for Zionazi occupation is chasing imaginary dragons. Is the revolutionary bar so high, or are you just that pathetic? Have you taken a look at whats going on right now? Israel is being destroyed as we speak. We’re on the edge of global nuclear war. Just because you’re too spineless to draw a line doesn’t make you pragmatic, it makes you an amerikkkan.