Jeffries Praises Mamdani for Backing NYPD Commissioner

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Watch Jeffries Praises Mamdani for Backing NYPD Commissioner - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

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00:00I did think it was interesting yesterday, and a strong step that was taken by Zoran,

00:05the Democratic nominee, when he indicated his intention to retain our current police

00:11commissioner, Jessica Tish. I think that probably will provide a lot of comfort to people

00:15throughout the city of New York. She's done a great job. She's well-respected.

00:20We're a diverse city, and it'll be interesting to see how that is received upon my return home.

00:25You've been asked about this a thousand times. Let me ask a thousand and one times.

00:28Are you prepared to endorse the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City?

00:32Well, what I'll say is I'm prepared to weigh in in advance of early voting.

00:36It's two days away.

00:37Early voting starts on Saturday.

00:39Yeah. What's holding you up, and what are the issues that you're still concerned about?

00:42I know that you said the last time you were asked about this, you were going to have a

00:45conversation with Zoran Mondani, another conversation.

00:48What's left undiscussed?

00:50Well, I hope to speak to him today or tomorrow. In fact, I plan on speaking to him today and tomorrow.

00:56And I think, from my standpoint, look, I was prepared to try to bring this to a close one

01:01way or the other several weeks ago, and then the government shutdown hit. And honestly,

01:07David, it's been all-encompassing, because this is a traumatic moment for the country that

01:13this has been inflicted on the American people.

01:15So I did watch the debate, and the themes of criticism that came up from the other two

01:19candidates were, he's inexperienced, and his comments on the Middle East are problematic.

01:23Are those, likewise, the same issues that you want to talk to him more about? What's left

01:28unsaid between the two of you?

01:29Well, I've certainly already publicly communicated and privately communicated some of my concerns

01:35with respect to some of the views that he's expressed in terms of foreign policy. That

01:39said, I believe his relentless focus on affordability is the right focus. The question becomes, for

01:47any mayor, for any executive, how are you going to implement that objective? Because it's the

01:53right objective, but he's got to navigate a treacherous governmental terrain in terms of

02:00the city, state, and most significantly, the federal government, because it's clear that

02:06Donald Trump has it out for Democratic-led cities all across the country, and we've got

02:11to be prepared for the fact that Donald Trump is coming for New York.

02:15I guess my question is one of confusion. So I sat down with Governor Cuomo, and in that

02:19conversation, he said, I'm a Democrat. My dad was a Democrat. He's really taking up that

02:23mantle. Of course, he lost the primary. He's running as an independent.

02:26Yeah.

02:26Isn't there an element here of confusion that in this vacuum, and you could, I guess, do

02:31something to close that vacuum, he's able to take up that mantle to the detriment of

02:36the duly elected Democratic nominee?

02:37Well, it's interesting, because he is running as an independent, so he's not the Democratic nominee.

02:41But of course, he has a long history as a Democrat. I think some of the concerns that I've seen

02:47articulated, however, is, well, what is the actual path to victory, given the inability

02:54to convince a majority of Democrats in the primary that you were the right person to lead

03:02the city moving forward at this moment?

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