Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has said “spineless” Democrats must throw their support behind the communist New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Speaking in Des Moines on Saturday, Van Hollen insisted that Mamdani’s focus is on “ensuring that people can afford to live in the place where they work” and chastised Democratic leaders who have so far refused to endorse his campaign.
“Yet, many Democratic members of the Senate and the House representing New York have stayed on the sidelines,” Van Hollen said.
“That kind of spineless politics is what people are sick of. They need to get behind him and get behind him now.”
Watch the clip below:
In Iowa, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) criticizes New York members of Congress who haven’t endorsed Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy for NYC Mayor.
“That kind of spineless politics is what people are sick of,” he says. “They need to get behind him, and get behind him now.” pic.twitter.com/j9Nl4oN4RR
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) September 13, 2025
Van Hollen, who recently hitched his wagon to the case of the illegal alien and MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, went on to say that the Democratic Party had become too moderate in its political approach.
“We’ve become a party that too often trims its sails,” he complained. “Too cautious, too rudderless. Too attached to poll-washed, pundit-rinsed, and donor-dried messages.”
“What comes out of the wash is all bleached and blow-dried,” he continued. “This finger in the wind stuff has got to end.”
”We also need to stop deluding ourselves that the problem is all about messaging, or about volume, or style.”
”We don’t just need to fight. We need to fight for something.”
Recent polls suggest that Mamdani, who defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination back in May, will win this November’s mayoral election by a landslide.
Last week, a poll by Siena and The New York Times found that Mamdani holds a commanding 22 percent lead over Cuomo, who is running as an independent.
Mamdani is currently projected to win 46 percent of the vote, with Cuomo lagging behind on just 24 percent.
Republican Curtis Silwa is polling at 15 percent, while incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is on just nine percent.
Roughly six in ten likely voters described Mr. Mamdani as inspiring, trustworthy, and concerned for people like themselves.