Former Vice President Kamala Harris showed less than enthusiastic support for New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani on Monday, and even took a jab at the Big Apple when asked if she endorses the Democratic socialist’s candidacy.
“Look, as far as I’m concerned, he’s the Democratic nominee, and he should be supported,” Harris said in an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow Monday night.
When asked if she endorses Mamdani’s campaign, Harris threw her hands in the air and offered a polite, “Sure.”
“I support the Democrat in the race, sure,” the failed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee said.
Harris then quickly pivoted to discuss other Democrats, in other cities, running for mayor – arguing that Mamdani is “not the only star.”
“I know that [Mamdani’s] in New York, and I know New Yorkers think they’re the center of the world,” she said, playfully, “and here we are in New York having this interview.”
“But I mean, there are people like Barbara Drummond in Mobile, Alabama, Helena Moreno in New Orleans,” Harris said. “They’re all running for mayor too, and they are stars.”
“So I hope that we don’t so over index on New York City that we lose sight of the stars throughout our country, who are right now running for mayor and many other offices …. so, that’s where I am,” the former vice president told Maddow.
Mamdani, whose socialist views and anti-Israel rhetoric have caused a major rift among progressives and moderates in the party, has yet to secure endorsements from several top New York Democrats – including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Empire State Gov. Kathy Hochul finally endorsed Mamdani last week.
Harris’ appearance on Maddow marks her first television news interview since leaving office, though the former vice president sat down with late-night comedian Stephen Colbert last month.
On MSNBC, Harris called President Trump a “tyrant” and likened him to a “communist dictator.”
“Capitalism thrives in a democracy, and right now we are dealing with, as I called him at my speech on the ellipse, a tyrant,” the former vice president said. “We used to compare the strength of our democracy to communist dictators – that’s what we’re dealing with right now in Donald Trump.”
Harris called on the “titans of industry” to be the “guard rails against a tyrant who is using the federal government to execute his whim and fancy because of a fragile ego.”
The vice president was later asked about an excerpt from her forthcoming book, “107 Days,” in which she explained that she didn’t pick Pete Buttigieg to be her running mate – despite initially being her “first choice” – over concerns that the openly gay former transportation secretary presented “too big of a risk” for the ticket.
“To say that he couldn’t be on the ticket effectively because he was gay, it’s hard to hear,” Maddow expressed to Harris.
“No, no – that’s not what I said, that he couldn’t be on the ticket because he is gay,” Harris argued.
“My point, as I write in the book, is … in one of the most hotly-contested elections for president United States against someone like Donald Trump, who knows no floor, to be a black woman running for president of the United States, and as a vice presidential running mate, a gay man, with the stakes being so high, it made me very sad, but I also realized it would be a real risk,” she tried to explain.
“Maybe I was being too cautious,” Harris later acknowledged.
When asked about her 2028 plans, Harris refused to rule out another White House run.
“That’s not my focus right now. It’s not my focus at all. It really isn’t,” she told Maddow.
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