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Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dem House leader Hakeem Jeffries still withholds endorsement after meeting with Zohran Mamdani
After meeting with leading New York City mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., issued a lukewarm statement through a spokesperson about the meeting and did not endorse his party's nominee. Mamdani, a New York state assemblyman and self-proclaimed socialist who has promised to overhaul New York City and launch massive new government programs, has been endorsed by progressive politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Despite winning the Democratic Party's nomination over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by a wide margin, Mamdani has yet to be endorsed by the party's top leaders, Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Jeffries and Mamdani met in New York City for about an hour Friday. After the meeting, Politico reporter Nicholas Wu posted a statement from Jeffries spokesperson Justin Chermol that called it "constructive" but did not include any mention of an endorsement. Aoc Welcomes Socialist Mamdani To Nation's Capital As Dem Leaders Withhold Endorsements Read On The Fox News App Chermol said "the meeting between Leader Jeffries and Assemblyman Mamdani was constructive, candid and community-centered, with particular focus on affordability. "Leader Jeffries and Assemblyman Mamdani discussed a variety of other important issues, including public safety, rising antisemitism, gentrification and the importance of taking back the House in 2026." According to Chermol's statement, the two "agreed to reconvene shortly, alongside other members of the New York City congressional delegation and a few high-level community leaders." Mamdani Sparks Social Media Frenzy With Viral Clip Discussing What Happens If He Runs Out Of Money Mamdani is seen by many as a controversial candidate, partially due to his socialist policy proposals and heavy criticism of the state of Israel. Mamdani, who is Muslim, has declined to say whether Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state and his initial refusal to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada." However, he recently began distancing himself from the phrase. On Thursday, Jeffries told reporters "as has been the case with every single high-profile endorsement decision that I've made in the past, I have a sit-down conversation, and then I take it from there." The meeting with Jeffries comes after Mamdani's recent visit to Washington, D.C., where he attended a breakfast hosted by Ocasio-Cortez and mingled with some of the party's most powerful players. Since then, he secured the endorsement of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who serves as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. Bipartisan House Resolution Aims To Condemn Phrase That's Created Firestorm For Zohran Mamdani Mamdani is running to unseat the current mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, who is running for re-election as an independent. He is also facing off against Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and activist Curtis Sliwa, who is the Republican Party article source: Dem House leader Hakeem Jeffries still withholds endorsement after meeting with Zohran Mamdani Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Social Media Is Exploding Over Zohran Mamdani Beating Andrew Cuomo
LateTuesdaynight, it became clear that democratic socialist and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani would win New York City's Democratic mayoral primary election. This year's election made our collective foreheads sweat, not just from the 100-degree heat wave that's been blasting the city, but also because Mamdani's biggest obstacle in the race was former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August 2021 after Attorney General Letitia James released a report that found he sexually assaulted nearly a dozen women. This election cycle, Cuomo was a frontrunner with high-profile endorsements like former president Bill Clinton and a $25 million super PAC (the largest-ever created for a New York City mayoral election). Yet, Mamdani — who mobilized a grassroots campaign, ran on an affordability platform and was backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — led with 43.5% of the votes compared to Cuomo's 36.4% with 93% of the votes counted, leading to Cuomo's concession Tuesday night. Mamdani's victory has been deemed a 'political upset' for establishment Democrats who alienated their voter base by resisting what many believe is necessary change. But to young people and to New Yorkers who have been plagued by rising costs and leadership they can't relate to, Mamdani's win is a breath of fresh air. In November, Mamdani will face off against candidates that include incumbent mayor Eric Adams, New York City's first sitting mayor to be indicted on criminal charges who is running as an independent, and potentially Cuomo again, if he decides to run as an independent. As a South Asian living in New York City myself, I'm particularly excited at the possibility of this city getting its first South Asian and Muslim mayor — andsoareothers. Perhaps the most telling sign of Mamdani's efforts is how intentionally online his campaign has been. From walking the length of Manhattan taking selfies with voters to partnering with content creators to lay out his platform, he's been speaking directly to people who want to finally be seen. And just as notably, his young supporters, exhausted from corruption and old faces, have enthusiastically celebrated his win online. Here are some of my favorite social media reactions to the results Tuesday night. Some posts have been incredibly heartwarming. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc) Others have been a touch spicy. I know Cuomo flipping tables calling Zohran everything but a child of God and I couldn't be happier — Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) June 25, 2025 The vibes have gone global. I don't live anywhere close to New York City but I still wrote Zohran's name on a piece of paper and put it in the mail — Justin🦩Boldaji (@justinboldaji) June 24, 2025 And there are so many elements of Mamdani's presence worth acknowledging. All in all, a large swath of New Yorkers are being vocal about the change they crave and expressing gratitude for a candidate they can actually get behind. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Benny Cruz (@bennycruz)
Observer
27-04-2025
- Automotive
- Observer
How I describe myself politically these days
I struggle these days whenever someone asks me for my political affiliation. But if you really force me, I'd describe myself as a 'Waymo Democrat.' Waymos are the self-driving electric taxis started by Google. My party's bumper sticker would read, 'A chicken in every pot and a Waymo in every city.' And our TV ads would say: 'Trump is for he/him — his grievances, his revenge, his corruption — and for bringing old stuff back 'again,' like coal and gasoline cars. Waymo Democrats are for 'We the People' and reinventing American industry anew.' Why am I bringing this up now? It's because, as my colleague David Brooks likes to say, Donald Trump is often the wrong answer to the right question. Trump today is offering America a spectacularly wrong answer — a tariff war against the whole world and a revival of 1960s assembly lines — to a very valid question: How do we get more Americans making stuff again? So, then, what's the right answer? I admire the fiery protest campaign of Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DNY. I love their ability to get people out to push back on Trump's destroy-America-in-100-days campaign. But when I listen to AOC and Sanders, I don't hear them solving for the future. So much of what they are about is lazily bashing billionaires, along with defending Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from the Trump-Elon Musk chain saw. Please, save all of that. But if Democrats are going to again be the party of the working class, and unify the country more, they need a strategy for expanding the pie of work by expanding new industries — not just protecting the pie of benefits. At a time when Trump Republicans have so given up on the future, Democrats should be for reinventing it. And that requires a strategy to push advanced manufacturing in America into wholly new realms. And that is why I am a Waymo Democrat. It is the right answer to the right question: How can we create more good jobs in advanced manufacturing? I say this for three reasons. First, robotaxis are going to be a huge industry, not just because I use only Waymos whenever I am in San Francisco, but because I am not alone. In just San Francisco; Phoenix; Austin, Texas; and Los Angeles — the four cities where Waymo offers its fully autonomous ride-hailing service — it's now racking up a whopping 200,000 paid rides a week. That's a growth industry. Second, as I have written based on two recent trips to China, if you want to see the future of manufacturing, you need to go to China, not America anymore. But not in every industry, and robotaxis are among the exceptions. A Chinese company does offer limited robotaxi service in a few cities, but it is an industry of the future in which American technology is still more than competitive and can become even more dominant. And while I don't enjoy seeing anyone put out of work, taxi drivers are not in a growth industry. Whereas the number of better-paying jobs supporting a robotaxi network — AI researchers, engineers, data scientists, chip designers, blue-collar mechanics, electrical engineers, marketers, maintenance workers, software designers, data-centre construction workers — constitute a growth industry, with good incomes for more people. Finally, I can't think of a more obvious moonshot project to spur advanced manufacturing in America generally than making it our goal to have Waymos or robo-Teslas — or any other brand of self-driving taxis that we can make — operating in every city in America. - The New York Times Thomas L Friedman The writer is an American political commentator and author
