\n<\/p>\n
The meeting itself was important. On July 18, Zohran Mamdani,<\/strong> the freshly minted antiestablishment winner of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, traveled to Brooklyn to sit down, for the first time, with Hakeem Jeffries,<\/strong> the Democratic minority leader of the House and one of the most powerful people in New York\u2019s political establishment. The two men covered plenty of complicated ground in one hour, including Mamdani\u2019s proposals to lower the cost of living and Jeffries\u2019s determination to win back a majority in the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n Yet nearly as significant as what the two men said while talking face-to-face was the message Mamdani had sent the night before, on TV. During an interview on Inside City Hall<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> the city\u2019s highest-profile political news show, Mamdani said he would now \u201cdiscourage\u201d use of the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada,\u201d distancing himself further than he ever has from the slogan used by some opponents of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. Mamdani had never encouraged its use, and acknowledged that it was offensive to some, but he had not denounced it, either. \u201cThat was a sophisticated move, to go on NY1 with Errol<\/strong> [Louis<\/strong>] the night before meeting with Hakeem, and to start lowering the heat,\u201d one House Democratic insider tells me.<\/p>\n In the month since his surprising and decisive win over former governor Andrew Cuomo,<\/strong> Mamdani has been making the rounds of Democratic elected officials, in both New York and Washington, seeking to \u201cbuild a coalition,\u201d as an adviser to Mamdani describes the outreach. In some places he\u2019s been eagerly received, including a gathering of roughly 30 House progressives hosted by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.<\/strong> In other corners, the mood has been chillier: Jeffries, as well as Chuck Schumer,<\/strong> the Senate minority leader, and Kathy Hochul,<\/strong> New York\u2019s governor, have still not endorsed Mamdani for mayor. \u201cHe\u2019s a very likable guy,\u201d says Jay Jacobs,<\/strong> the New York State Democratic Party chairman and a former close ally of Cuomo\u2019s, who recently talked with Mamdani for the first time. \u201cThe substance is where he\u2019s got problems. Not just the policy proposals, but the language he uses on the Middle East conflict. And the mayor\u2019s race has national ramifications\u2014the Republicans have already weaponized his primary win to try to paint moderate Democrats in competitive districts as being aligned with Mamdani.\u201d<\/p>\n