Though neither endorsed Zohran Mamdani’s run for mayor, former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden praised his “moral compass” and influence on the party in congratulatory calls after his win Tuesday, a source briefed on both conversations told the Daily News.
The congratulatory messages from the two ex-presidents, who are among the Democratic party’s most popular national figures, appear to be a signal mainstream Democratic heavyweights are warming up to Mamdani as the party continues to regroup following staggering losses nationally in 2024.
A democratic socialist, Mamdani has unnerved some of his party’s more moderate members, who fear his tax-the-rich agenda could backfire and benefit Republicans in next year’s congressional midterms and beyond. But Mamdani also successfully mobilized a large cohort of younger voters, a demographic key to the party’s future success.
Obama, who also spoke privately to Mamdani last weekend, called the mayoral-elect Tuesday night just hours after his victory became official.
“You got a good moral compass, and that’s important,” Obama told Mamdani in the call, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Obama also said he hopes to meet Mamdani in person soon, per the source.
Obama’s call came even though the mayor-elect posted a message on social media over a decade ago that assailed the 44th president as “pretty darn evil,” a comment Mamdani’s main mayoral race opponent, Andrew Cuomo, seized on during the campaign.
Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president before being elected to the top U.S. job in 2020, called Mamdani on Wednesday morning to also offer compliments and congratulations.
Biden, the source said, lauded Mamdani for spearheading “a new generation of leadership” that he told him the Democratic Party needs at this moment, as it still seeks to find its footing amid Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Mamdani, 34, has faced criticism over his relative professional inexperience, but Biden noted he was himself elected as a U.S. senator representing Delaware at 30, according to the source.
Before launching his mayoral campaign, Mamdani was skeptical of aspects of Biden’s leadership, too, often criticizing his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
Mamdani, whose Tuesday victory made him one of the highest-ranking elected officials in the country to be a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has countered that his party needs to adopt a more ambitious platform in order to break through to voters disillusioned by Trump.
He is set to be sworn in Jan. 1 as the youngest mayor of New York City in over a century.
