Zohran Mamdani facing key Dems at DC breakfast hosted by AOC — after setting off political earthquake
Mamdani was in the nation's capital for a breakfast hosted by fellow socialist, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, at the National Democratic Club, according to an event flier.
Ocasio-Cortez, who loudly backed Mamdani during the primary, said she was eager for people in DC to meet her fellow lefty firebrand face-to- face to hear his plan for the Big Apple.
Advertisement
'I think a lot of people just need to get to know folks before they issue an endorsement. I hope that this conversation can be constructive to bring the party together and rally behind our nominee,' Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Fox News.
It wasn't immediately clear if other key congressional Dems — including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer — would attend the event.
Neither Jeffries nor Schumer, both New Yorkers, have publicly endorsed Mamdani yet.
Advertisement
'I'm excited to go to Washington, DC, to speak with Congressman Jeffries, to speak with Senator Schumer, to speak with leaders of our party across the country,' Mamdani said on Tuesday.
Jeffries and Schumer both signaled this week they planned to meet with Mamdani back in New York — and not in DC.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
House resolution seeks to stop plan to shoot nearly half a million owls
Rep. Troy E. Nehls, a Republican from Texas, backed by 17 co-sponsors from both political parties, introduced a resolution Wednesday that could mark the end of a plan to protect spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest. The plan calls for shooting roughly 450,000 barred owls over 30 years in California, Oregon and Washington, because they are outcompeting spotted owls, pushing them out of their native territory. The spotted owls are in rapid decline. Northern spotted owls are listed as threatened under California and U.S. endangered species laws, and there may be as few as 3,000 left on federal lands. Federal wildlife officials have proposed endangered species protection for two populations of California spotted owls. In a statement, Nehls called the owl-culling plan, approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Biden administration, 'a waste of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars.' He estimated it will cost $1.35 billion, based on a $4.5-million contract awarded to the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Northern California last year to hunt about 1,500 barred owls over four years. That is about $3,000 per owl. The bipartisan alliance says killing the owls is also inhumane and unworkable. Co-sponsors of the resolution consist of 11 Republicans and six Democrats, including three California representatives — Josh Harder (D-Tracy), Adam Gray (D-Merced) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles), according to Nehls' office. The effort makes use of the Congressional Review Act, a tool sometimes employed by new presidential administrations to reverse rules issued by federal agencies in the final months of prior administrations. In late May, the Government Accountability Office concluded the plan was subject to the act. To stop the owl-culling plan, both chambers of Congress would need to pass a joint resolution by majority vote and President Trump would need to sign it. If successful, the resolution would preclude the Fish and Wildlife Service from pursuing a similar rule, unless explicitly authorized by Congress. The plan already faced setbacks. In May, federal officials canceled three related grants totaling more than $1.1 million, including one study that would have remove barred owls from over 192,000 acres in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. Another would have removed them from the Mendocino National Forest. Some scientists and conservationists say nixing the plan would mean the end for northern spotted owls. The raptor, dark brown with bright white spots, prefers old-growth forests. It became the central symbol of the so-called timber wars in the 1980s and '90s when environmentalists and logging interests fought over the fate of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. Barred owls are slightly larger, more aggressive and less picky when it comes to habitat and food — giving them an advantage in competition for resources. 'If we don't move forward with barred owl removal, it will mean the extinction of the northern spotted owl, and it will likely mean the extinction of the California spotted owl as well,' Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, told The Times last week. He pointed to a long-term field experiment that showed spotted owl populations stabilized in areas where barred owls were killed. Barred owls originated in eastern North America and expanded west along with European settlers who planted trees and suppressed fires, biologists believe. Government scientists see barred owls' presence in the Pacific Northwest as invasive, but some argue that it's natural range expansion. 'Protecting spotted owls is an imperative, but assaulting other native wildlife occupying the same forests is not ethical or a practical means of achieving that goal,' said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy, who has helped galvanize opposition to the culling plan.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Nebraska Dems hosting Beshear, possible 2028 presidential candidate
Gov. Andy Beshear speaks to reporters in Louisville. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley) LINCOLN — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is coming to Nebraska to speak to Democrats for the state party's top annual fundraising event in November. Beshear is a Democratic governor in a deeply red Republican state. He and other 2028 potential presidential hopefuls visited South Carolina in recent weeks, to test the water for their campaign messages. He was picked to lead the Democratic Governors Association into next year's midterm elections and has been touted as 'most popular Democratic governor in America.' Beshear was attorney general of Kentucky before becoming governor in 2019. His father was previously governor. National Democrats have been seeking answers as President Donald Trump made gains among working-class voters, including minority voters, last year. A trend of prominent Democratic figures making their way to the heartland has emerged, and some are crossing the Missouri River from traditionally first-in-the-nation Iowa into Nebraska. Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders launched his 'Fighting Oligarchy' nationwide tour in Omaha. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hosted a Democratic town hall earlier this year And Former Texas U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke is having a similar town hall in Omaha next month. The events with prominent Democratic figures appear aimed at energizing the Nebraska Democratic base for the midterms and come when two federal races could be competitive. Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District has drawn national attention as its single presidential race electoral vote has swung from Republicans to Democrats in recent years, most recently to former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Nebraska could regain the national spotlight in 2026, with an open seat race in the state's 2nd District for the U.S. House and Dan Osborn's nonpartisan Senate bid against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts. Both races could determine which party controls what parts of Congress. But Nebraska Democrats face an uphill battle in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats about 2 to 1, Republicans have gained a legislative supermajority, and the party last held a congressional seat with former U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford in 2017. Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: info@
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Shapiro advises Mamdani to rein in ‘blatantly antisemitic' supporters
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) advised New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to rein in 'blatantly antisemitic' supporters, according to a new Jewish Insider interview. 'I'll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,' Shapiro said, according to Jewish Insider. 'If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you're a leader.' 'I don't care if you're a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader,' he added. 'You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can't leave room for that to just sit there. You've got to condemn that.' Mamdani, a democratic socialist, recently shocked American political observers with his win over political heavyweight and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor. He has also faced criticism over remarks he made in which he avoided condemning the phrase 'globalize the intifada' and likened it to the Warsaw ghetto uprising amid the Holocaust. Pro-Palestinian activists have maintained that the phrase only refers to liberation for Palestinians to have the right to their own state and doesn't endorse calls for violence. However, pro-Israel activists and many Jewish people see the phrase as calling for a worldwide uprising to enact violence against Zionists, who back Israel's existence, and Jewish people more broadly. Mamdani has said he would not use the phrase and would dissuade others from using it amid scrutiny over his unwillingness to fully condemn the expression, multiple outlets reported recently.
