Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said Sunday that New York City Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani must move beyond “academic socialist rhetoric” and prove he can govern responsibly if elected.
“I think it’s very interesting what he has done since the primary,” Smith told Newsmax’s “Sunday Report.” “I don’t believe in the left-wing socialist stuff that he has been talking about.”
Smith said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ endorsement of Mamdani doesn’t trouble him, but Democrats should hold the candidate accountable for his promises to moderate.
“The key is, he’s got to figure out that sort of academic socialist rhetoric runs smack into reality when you actually have to govern the city,” he commented.
Meanwhile, the congressman said Democrats should focus less on the New York City mayoral race and more on the governor contests in New Jersey and Virginia, where he described the Democrat candidates as “centrist, moderate, very capable.”
“The more interesting elections are in New Jersey and Virginia,” he said. “We have two, I think, centrist, moderate, very capable candidates in Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill running.”
When asked about economic proposals of Mamdani, who’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Smith cautioned against unrealistic “free stuff” promises and criticized the candidate’s earlier comments about law enforcement.
“The policies that are most troubling is the idea that we’re just going to give free stuff to everybody,” Smith said.
Further, Mamdani’s past comments about law enforcement have been “very troubling,” said Smith.
“Hopefully, once he actually has to run something, he will recognize that the rhetoric in an academic classroom is very different than actually having to run a city the size of New York,” he added.
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