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New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani repeatedly avoided directly answering whether he believes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., needed to leave by joking in a new interview how much he resembles his father.
Zeteo’s Mehdi Hasan asked Mamdani multiple times on his show Sunday about Schumer’s role as a leader in the Democratic Party and whether it was time for him to go. During the podcast, Mamdani did not say whether he supported Schumer stepping down or being replaced.
“I think it’s time for me to focus on this transition and to start delivering for New Yorkers from day one,” Mamdani said before discussing the government shutdown. “I thinkI’ve been clear. I think it was a very bad deal. It does not make any sense to me to have fought for the extension.”
MAMDANI SPEAKS ABOUT ‘WEIRDEST THING’ HE SAW DURING TRUMP WHITE HOUSE VISIT
“I’m sorry to break this to you, Zohran Mamdani,” Hasan interrupted. “You are now a prominent national Democrat. Your name is up there when people talk about Democratic leaders. So when we’re talking about Chuck Schumer’s effectiveness, whether he should stay in the role, people expect you to have an opinion.”
Mamdani went on to criticize the Senate deal to end the government shutdown rather than Schumer himself.
When Hasan later asked about Mamdani discouraging a primary challenger to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Mamdani borrowed a phone to show Hasan an image of his father, Mahmood Mamdani, whom he claims looks like Schumer.
“Is that why you won’t call for Chuck Schumer to go? Because he looks like your dad?” Hasan said.
“Right? This is my dad,” Mamdani said. “This is a Zeteo exclusive.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s team for comment.
Despite growing criticism of Schumer and Jeffries from progressive Democrats, Mamdani has not publicly called on either of them to step down and has even discouraged city council member Chi Ossé from running a primary against Jeffries.
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“I think that right now is not the time to be engaging in that kind of a primary. I think the focus should be on delivering on this affordability agenda,” Mamdani told PIX11 in November.
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