DNC chair dismisses Zohran Mamdani's refusal to condemn ‘intifada' chants: ‘We are a big tent party'
Martin, elected to lead the DNC in February, suggested that his party welcomes users of the chant associated with violent uprisings against Israel, in an interview with PBS.
'You know, there's no candidate in this party that I agree 100% of the time with, to be honest with you,' Martin said, when asked by 'PBS NewsHour' host Amna Nawaz about Mamdani's repeated defense of the rallying cry for anti-Israel protesters.
3 Zohran Mamdani speaks at a 'Within Our Lifetime Palestine Protest' in front of a sign calling for an 'Intifada revolution' on May 12, 2021.
Instagram/@zohrankmamdani
'There's things that I don't agree with Mamdani that he said, but at the end of the day, I always believe, as a Democratic Party chair in Minnesota for the last 14 years and now the chair of the DNC, that you win through addition, you win by bringing people into your coalition,' he continued. 'We have conservative Democrats, we have centrist Democrats, we have labor progressives like me and we have this new brand of Democrat, which is the leftists, and we win by bringing people into that coalition.'
'At the end of the day, for me, that's the type of party we're going to lead. We are a big tent party.'
Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, has both awkwardly defended activists' use of 'globalize the intifada' and has flat-out refused to condemn it on several occasions.
The Queens assemblyman described the chant as an adage that reflects the 'desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,' in an interview with the Bulwark last month that went viral.
Mamdani later repeatedly refused to condemn the slogan, viewed by some as a call for violence against Jews, in an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
'That's not language that I use. The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights,' he told host Kristen Welker on June 29.
3 DNC Chair Ken Martin is interviewed during PBS Newshour on July 10, 2025.
PBS NewsHour
3 Zohran Mamdani at the United Palace in New York on July 10, 2025.
Matthew McDermott
'I don't believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech in that manner.'
Some Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), have called on the socialist Democratic nominee to clarify his position on the slogan.
If elected, Mamdani would become the first Muslim mayor of New York City.
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Schiff and James come under fire from GOP Paxton's real estate dealings are in many ways distinct from those of James and Schiff, the Democrats targeted by the Trump administration. The investigation of James centers on forms she signed in 2023 while helping a niece buy a home in Virginia. One form stated that James intended to occupy the home as her 'principal residence.' But in other documents, the New York attorney general made clear she had no intention of living there. An email to the mortgage loan broker two weeks before she signed the documents stated the property 'WILL NOT be my primary residence.' 'As I've said from the beginning, if prosecutors want to know that truth about Attorney General James' mortgage applications, we are ready and waiting with the facts,' said Lowell, James' attorney. For over a decade, Schiff owned homes in Maryland and California, the state he represents, that were both designated as his primary residence. In 2020, then a congressman, Schiff designated his Maryland property as a second home — a step Paxton has not taken. Paxton has faced legal and political challenges Paxton's real estate dealings are not the first time he has drawn scrutiny for his conduct while in office. Before his election as attorney general, Paxton, then a state senator, admitted in 2014 to violating Texas securities law and paid a fine. He spent roughly 10 years under state indictment on securities charges while serving as attorney general. The charges were eventually dropped in 2024. Other alleged misdeeds in office led to his impeachment by Texas' GOP-controlled House in 2023. He was acquitted in a trial by the Senate. Angela Paxton did not cast a vote in his impeachment trial and recently filed for divorce, citing Ken Paxton's infidelity and other 'recent discoveries.' She did not elaborate. What ultimately unleashed the impeachment push was Paxton's relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who pleaded guilty this year to one count of making a false statement to a financial institution. In 2020, eight top aides in Paxton's office told the FBI they were concerned the state's top law enforcement official was misusing his office to help Paul over the developer's unproven claims about an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties. The House impeachment managers accused Paxton of attempting to interfere in foreclosure lawsuits and issuing legal opinions to benefit Paul. They also alleged that Paul employed a woman with whom Paxton had an affair in exchange for legal help and that the developer paid for expensive renovations to the attorney general's home in Austin. That would be the same house that he declared in mortgage documents was his third primary residence. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. 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