Former Vice President Kamala Harris chose her words carefully. When asked about New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, she stopped short of offering an endorsement, instead saying that she “supports the nominee”. It was a political half-green light — a party-unity boilerplate message that acknowledged Mamdani within the Democratic fold without embracing his ideology or associating him directly with her brand.
Harris did not volunteer any praise for Mamdani’s policies or vision. Instead, the former V-P explicitly downplayed his singular importance on the national stage, reminding viewers that Mamdani “is not the only star.”
Harris’s half-support comes amid a broader split in how Democrats are responding to Mamdani’s insurgent progressive campaign. On the Left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Pramila Jayapal and Elizabeth Warren have all expressed support for either the candidate or his policies.
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Santiago Vidal Calvo is a Cities policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute.
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