MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton said in a new interview that former President Obama's outreach to New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani "normalizes" the democratic socialist candidate for wary Democrats.
Barack Obama reached out to Mamdani after he won the city's Democratic mayoral primary in June, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday. According to the report, Obama offered congratulations and governing advice, and discussed with Mamdani the "importance of giving people hope in a dark time."
Sharpton commented on the significance of Obama's team showing interest in Mamdani's campaign, according to a report in the New York Post on Thursday.
"It gives the sense that President Obama's world is comfortable with his candidacy. It normalizes him," Sharpton said.
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"It helps with the perception of some people that Mamdani is too radical. It sends a message that he is not unacceptable," the political activist and MSNBC host added.
A source in Mamdani's campaign told the Post they hope Obama's interest leads to an endorsement. Notably, top New York Democratic Party leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have not endorsed the progressive candidate.
According to the Times, several other prominent figures in Obama's orbit have been in regular contact with Mamdani's team.
Former Obama aide Ben Rhodes wrote a guest essay in the paper this week urging the Democratic establishment to embrace Mamdani's strategy as a model for the party's future.
"Even when presented with Zohran Mamdani's campaign in New York - an innovative example of fresh political tactics and policies - many party leaders recoiled. The party seems - quite literally - afraid of its own future," Rhodes wrote.
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Several of Mamdani's policies, such as city-run grocery stores and freezing rent prices, have drawn scrutiny.
The progressive Muslim candidate also faced backlash in June after dodging an interview question about whether he condemned the phrase, "globalize the intifada." At the time, Sharpton called on the front-runner to meet with Jewish leaders and make it clear that he doesn't support antisemitism.
"He's running for mayor of New York. You need to take off the table, 'Do you support international intifada?' Period. Not go around it," Sharpton said during an MSNBC segment in June. "I understand you don't want to be forced into something, but I don't think that's what he stands for from what he said to us. And he should say that outright."
In comments to business leaders in July, Mamdani clarified that he would not use the controversial phrase and would discourage others from doing so, according to the Times.
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Sharpton also joined Mamdani in Harlem in June at a rally for the National Action Network, a civil rights nonprofit founded by Sharpton in the early 90s. The two also had a closed-door meeting together.
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Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
