Buckle up, folks—House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) just endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist running for New York City mayor, in a move that’s turning heads and raising alarms.

After dragging his feet for months amid fierce Democratic infighting, Jeffries’ Friday announcement signals a sharp pivot to the left, leaving conservatives wondering if the party has abandoned any pretense of moderation, Breitbart reported.

Let’s step back to July, when Jeffries first took to social media to shield Mamdani from critics, while touting the Democratic Party as a “big tent” during an MSNBC chat.

Jeffries’ Winding Road to Endorsement

Fast forward to early September, and not every Democrat was feeling the love—Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) suggested Mamdani and his socialist allies might be better off starting their own party to avoid chasing away centrists.

For weeks, Jeffries played it coy, sidestepping questions until Friday morning when he told a C-SPAN reporter he hadn’t flat-out refused to endorse and would soon make his stance clear before early voting.

Hours later, he made good on that promise, throwing his support behind Mamdani to rally party unity and counter what he labeled an “existential” threat from President Trump.

Unity or a Leftward Leap?

Jeffries didn’t sugarcoat the tension, admitting to “areas of principled disagreement” with Mamdani, yet called for backing the entire Democratic ticket in the general election to present a united front.

But let’s not pretend all is well—deep divisions persist, with an Axios survey showing just 24 of 113 Democratic House candidates firmly behind Jeffries as leader, many irked by his earlier reluctance to embrace Mamdani.

Adding to the unease, an August Gallup poll found 66% of Democrats now favor socialism over capitalism, a trend that has conservatives fretting over the party’s appeal to mainstream, hard-working Americans.

Republicans Fire Back Fast

Republicans pounced on the news, with NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella blasting Jeffries for caving to what he called “the socialist mob now running the Democrat Party.”

Marinella didn’t hold back, warning, “Their far-left takeover has torched Democrats’ hopes of retaking the House and turned their agenda into pure electoral poison” (NRCC statement).

From a conservative vantage point, this looks less like a unifying gesture and more like a risky surrender to policies that could weigh down taxpayers and choke out free enterprise.

Can Democrats Hold It Together?

Jeffries tried to frame this as a win, telling The New York Times, “Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers.”

That’s a fine promise, but running a tough, diverse city like New York without veering into progressive overreach is no small feat, and doubters on all sides are keeping a close watch.

While Jeffries may bank on this endorsement knitting the party together, conservatives and moderates alike will be scrutinizing whether this tilt to the left fractures the Democratic base beyond repair.