DNC chair says ‘we want everyone’ in Democratic Party including ‘leftists’ like Mamdani

EXCLUSIVE – Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin takes issue with the messaging push by Republicans to try and anchor Zohran Mamdani to vulnerable Democrats running in next year’s elections.

Asked about the 33-year-old democratic socialist candidate who last month stunned the political world by capturing the Democratic Party mayoral nomination in New York City, Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Whatley last week claimed that Mamdani “is the face of the new Democratic Party.” But Martin, in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday, pushed back.

“That’s just ridiculous. We have many faces of the Democratic Party all over the country,” Martin said.

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He then listed well-known party leaders, including Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (an independent who is part of the Senate Democrats’ leadership), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

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Mamdani, a Ugandan-born state assemblyman from the New York City borough of Queens, grabbed national attention after topping former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates last month in the Democratic primary, taking a big step towards becoming the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the nation’s most populous city. Republicans now see him as a source of ammunition as they aim to portray Democrats as far-left radicals.

“Everybody who wants to lead that party wants to lead it to the left…they’re moving away from the American public right now at a pretty rapid clip,” Whatley argued.

But Martin highlighted that “the Democratic Party is a big tent party. We have conservative Democrats, we have centrist Democrats, we have progressives, and we have these leftists.”

“We want everyone to be in that party. And, you know, that includes Zohran Mamdani, that includes other folks on all sides of the ideological spectrum,” Martin added.

Martin, who was elected in early February as the new DNC chair, said “that’s the difference…between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Republicans expect people to march lockstep. If there’s any dissent, they’re drummed out of the party. They’re pushed out of the party. I reject that type of leadership.”

Meanwhile, Mamdani has given Republicans plenty of fodder to use to go on the offensive.

He’s proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores.

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Republicans have used recent viral videos of Mamdani in their attacks. They include a 2020 photo Mamdani posted online that shows him flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus, stories about comments Mamdani made last December when he said as mayor he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his recent comments in a cable news interview in which he said “I have many critiques of capitalism.”

Mamdani’s comments on Israel have also caused controversy, including his resistance during the primary campaign to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which is viewed by many people as a call to violence against Jewish people.

“I’ve said very clearly, I reject any hate speech in our party. I will always call out antisemitism when I see it, Islamophobia when I see it, homophobia, when I see it. There’s no space or quarter within the Democratic Party for that type of speech,” Martin said when asked by Fox News if he found any of Mamdani’s proposals or comments troubling.

“‘Globalized the Intifada,’ of course, it’s a call to incite violence, and we all have a responsibility to reject that, and I will,” he added.

Martin, a former chair of Minnesota’s Democratic Party, noted he was back home recently to attend the funeral of a former Minnesota House Speaker and her husband, who were shot and killed in their home.

The DNC chair, who called the two people killed “really close friends,” said, “They were assassinated because of their political beliefs. And we have a responsibility right now, I think, leaders of either party, and frankly, leaders of any organization in this country, when we see that type of rhetoric and hate speech that’s inciting people to violence, to call it out unequivocally and all the time.”