WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) likely feels no obligation to follow his House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries and endorse Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani ahead of next week’s election, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told The Post Tuesday.
“If I’m him,” Thune said during an exclusive interview, “and you know, he, this guy [Mamdani] is so far, he’s such a whack, that it just moves him [Schumer] even further out of the mainstream.
“And I think Schumer feels like he’s genuflected enough now with all of this — theatrics to his, that far-left crowd — that maybe that buys him enough goodwill,” the South Dakotan went on, referring to the partial government shutdown that entered its fifth week Tuesday.
“I don’t think he has to do it,” Thune added later of the possibility of a Mamdani endorsement. “I think he feels like on his ledger — and he’s totally transactional — on his ledger, he’s stored up enough goodwill because he’s fighting Trump on this shutdown now and that, maybe, that gets him out of having to do something. … crazy.”
Jeffries (D-NY) became the highest-ranking congressional Democrat to endorse Mamdani on Friday, giving the state legislator an extra boost head of early voting in the Nov. 4 election.
Thune added that he and Schumer have had little direct discussion since the shutdown began Oct. 1, though lawmakers have offered several olive branches in the form of stopgap funding bills to pay certain sectors of the federal workforce, such as the military.
The latest bid to advance a bill funding the government through Nov. 21 was blocked by Senate Democrats for a 13th time Tuesday.
Meanwhile, public opinion polling for Republicans has improved throughout the shutdown, with a Quinnipiac University survey finding the congressional GOP has experienced a two-percentage-point increase in their net approval rating since July.
Congressional Democrats have lost five percentage points from their net approval rating, per the poll, but Schumer is still holding out for a potential deal on hundreds of billions of dollars in health care subsidies expanded under former President Joe Biden.
“Thune seems perplexed about what precisely it is that Democrats are pushing for,” the Senate minority leader said in a floor speech Tuesday, “but he knows damn well what Democrats want — it’s the very same thing that a vast majority of Americans want, including nearly 60% of MAGA voters: We want to lower healthcare costs, now.”
“We Democrats have been calling on Republican leaders to sit down with us and negotiate and address this crisis since the summer,” Schumer added. “But even now, Leader Thune insists we should fix ACA [Affordable Care Act] premiums later, not right away.
“We are just days away from a healthcare crisis unlike any we’ve ever seen, and Republicans from the Senate to the House to the White House are dithering about,” the Brooklyn Democrat said.
“I’ve said all along,” Thune responded, “and I think it’s totally true, that it’s gonna take other Democrats to save him and to open up the government. I don’t think he can ever get there.”
“I think he is so afraid of what happened last time and very thin-skinned,” the South Dakotan added, referring to Schumer voting to keep the government open in March and attracting a torrent of left-wing criticism. “He’s not typically getting, you know, whacked by his base, but he is now.”
A new Manhattan Institute poll out Tuesday showed Mamdani ahead of former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, 43% to 28%, with Republican challenger Curt Sliwa in third place with 19% support.
Even without the Schumer endorsement, the 34-year-old is on track to get the keys to Gracie Mansion.
“It is New York,” Thune said, “but still, even for New York, that’s a far-left swing.”
Reps for Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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