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Democrats are facing a fight for the party’s future, Sen. Bernie Sanders warned during his “Fighting Oligarchy” town hall with mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani at Brooklyn College in New York City on Saturday.
The independent senator from Vermont criticized New York Democratic leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, for refusing to endorse Mamdani in the heated race for Gracie Mansion.
“I find it hard to understand how the major Democratic leaders in New York State are not supporting the Democratic candidate,” Sanders said.
“One might think that if a candidate starting at 2% in the polls gets 50,000 volunteers, creates enormous excitement, gets young people involved in the political process, gets nontraditional voters to vote, Democratic leaders would be jumping up and down. This is our guy!”
Sanders called his party’s lack of support “strange” and made his stance on the direction of the party clear: “We got another fight on our hands, and that is the future of the Democratic Party.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani hold hands during the town hall “Fighting Oligarchy” event at Brooklyn College on Sept. 6, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Brooklyn native capitalized on the event as an opportunity to pressure New York Democrats to rally behind their nominee. Mamdani is fielding challenges from independent candidates former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, as well as the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa.
BERNIE SANDERS, ZOHRAN MAMDANI TEAM UP TO ‘FIGHT OLIGARCHY’ IN NYC
When reached for comment regarding Sanders’ apparent call to action on Saturday, Hochul’s office pointed to the governor’s comments on “Fox News Sunday.”
“There’s been so much speculation about what I’m going to do. I think the bigger question is what the voters of New York want to do. I vote in Buffalo, New York, just for the record. I’m not a New York City— I’m here part-time. But listen, it is up to the voters and there should not be outside influences on this decision from the White House on down. Let the voters of New York decide,” Hochul to Fox News’ Shannon Bream.
Regardless of who wins the New York City mayoral race, Hochul said she needs them to work with her to protect the Jewish community and ensure businesses can continue to thrive through affordability and public safety.
“Stay tuned. We’ll see what happens,” Hochul added regarding an endorsement.
Schumer and Jeffries did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, is joined by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for a press conference in Statuary Hall at the Capitol on Feb. 12, 2025. (AP/Rod Lamkey, Jr./File)
As Sanders rallied New Yorkers for Mamdani, the town hall wasn’t without its detractors. “You are a communist!” one protester yelled at Mamdani as he addressed the crowd.
President Donald Trump has dubbed Mamdani a “100% communist lunatic” since he won the Democratic primary in June.
Ahead of the town hall in Brooklyn, the two progressive leaders marched alongside union members in Manhattan’s Labor Day parade. On Saturday afternoon, Mamdani posed for a photo with Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in Astoria. The post amassed more than 6 million views on X as of Monday morning.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., participate in a stop on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in Bakersfield, Calif., on April 15, 2025. (REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci)
Sanders, a two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up, was an early endorser of Mamdani’s primary campaign, along with Ocasio-Cortez. Their endorsements helped Mamdani consolidate progressive support in the 11-candidate field during the final weeks of the primary campaign.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez sparked sizable buzz on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour earlier this year, firing up thousands of Democrats at rallies across the United States who have been left without a clear party leader since devastating losses up and down the ballot in 2024.
While Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour seemed for a time a glimmer of hope for a fractured party, Mamdani’s surprising primary win this summer seems to have reignited that Democratic base in a new, albeit more progressive, direction.
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Mamdani’s campaign platform promises progressive ideas like rent freezes, city-run grocery stores, free buses and raising the minimum wage — all of which he plans to pay for by raising taxes on corporations and the 1%.