Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used the celebration of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory Tuesday night to issue a public warning to top Democratic leaders, declaring that the party’s establishment must either embrace the socialist movement or be “left behind,” as reported by The Western Journal.
Speaking on CNN shortly after Mamdani’s win was announced, Ocasio-Cortez praised the far-left state assemblyman’s campaign and suggested it represented the future of the Democratic Party.
“He was fighting a war on two fronts and not just one,” she said, referring to Mamdani’s contest against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and what she described as the “old guard” of the party.
“I do think that this moment — a lot of people who are willing to talk about party unity when it serves everybody, it puts those folks on notice,” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to the Daily Mail.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, defeated Cuomo by roughly nine points in Tuesday’s election, taking 50.4 percent of the vote to Cuomo’s 41.6 percent. Republican Curtis Sliwa finished a distant third with just over 7 percent.
The race, which pitted two Democrats against each other, was viewed as a contest between the progressive and establishment wings of the party.
While some conservatives in New York backed Cuomo for his comparatively moderate stance, Mamdani’s six-month campaign focused on left-wing policies including police budget cuts, expanded social programs, and higher taxes on upper-income earners.
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks signaled growing tension between her progressive faction and senior Democratic figures such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Her comments suggested that she and other members of the party’s far-left wing intend to push leadership to adopt their agenda more aggressively.
“The Democratic Party cannot last much longer by denying the future,” she said.
https://www.rvmnews.com/2025/11/aoc-declares-political-war-on-schumer-pelosi-and-jeffries-during-mamdani-victory-speech-watch/