Bernie Sanders tells Zohran Mamdani to sound less antisemitic: report

Socialist Zohran Mamdani took a trip to Washington, DC earlier this week, where he had breakfast with Democratic lawmakers in Congress before meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a self-declared "Democratic Socialist," who said the mayoral candidate had to do a better job that explaining his views on Israel were not antisemitic, according to a report by CNN.

Sanders endorsed Mamdani leading up to his victory over Cuomo in the mayoral primary, and during the visit, Mamdani did not meet with any senior Democrat leaders, per CNN. During his visit with Sanders, the senator told Mamdani to be more cautious in approaching the topic of Israel, that he should explain that his criticism is not antisemitic, and to “not let himself seem like he’s minimizing the fear Jews in New York and elsewhere feel from the threat of hate against them,” CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the meeting.

This comes after Mamdani has refused to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," which is commonly associated with violence against Jews, but has reportedly said he would “discourage it," but not the "idea behind it."

The breakfast was arranged by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is also a large endorsement for Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race. However, most Democrats skipped out on the meeting, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Only around 40 attended. Jeffries is planning to meet with the socialist candidate on Friday and has yet to endorse him.

Some House Democrats joked that their invites got lost, while others blamed conflicts with their own schedule. Some who attended the meeting, however, have embraced Mamdani’s left-wing policies.

Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) told reporters, “There’s not a lot of difference between a government-run grocery store and some sort of co-op,” arguing in favor of Mamdani’s proposal to have government-run grocery stores, which was reportedly based on an accounting error.