RNC chair says left in ‘death spiral’ with ‘mini-Mamdanis’

Skip to content

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Joe Gruters on Wednesday said the political left is in a “death spiral” with “mini-Mamdanis” running and winning Democratic primaries across the country, referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D).

“Keep on electing them because they’re giving us a gift every single day,” he told NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer. “What’s happened to the left –– they’re in a death spiral. All of you get to see it. All these mini-Mamdanis running around and they’re winning, and it’s not just New York City and big cities, we’re talking about … middle America.”

Gruters pointed to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) and former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D), who have both campaigned on progressive issues. Platner formally withdrew last week after a former girlfriend accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021.

Maine Democrats are “in some type of civil war and they’re trying to have the nomination behind closed doors without anybody saying, just like they put in Biden, just like they put in Harris,” Gruters said, referring to former President Biden quitting his reelection bid in 2024 — only for former Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him at the top of the ticket without going through a formal primary.

“They should have a debate,” Gruters continued, referring to Maine. “They should have it open. It should be for everybody to see, but … every single day they give us gifts from the standpoint of the match-ups that we need.”

Democratic socialists have won several electoral victories across the country. A handful of candidates defeated incumbent New York House Democrats, while democratic socialists in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles are close to clinching each city’s mayorship. Mamdani, a democratic socialist himself, endorsed and campaigned for the House candidates running in the Empire State

Two other progressive candidates also defeated incumbent House members in Pennsylvania and Colorado.

President Trump and Republicans have taken those candidates to task, while conflating democratic socialism with communism, claiming it is a threat to the country and providing Republicans with new messaging to capitalize on.

Democratic lawmakers have touted the party as having a “big tent.” Still, divisions between the progressive left and mainstream Democrats have centered on the party’s support for Israel following its aggressive military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told MS NOW’s Jen Psaki last month that he supports Israel’s right to exist and “the aspirations of the Palestinian people,” but he wants new House Democrats entering Congress next year to remember that Trump is “the enemy.”

“I think for us as House Democrats, we’re just hopeful that everybody recognizes once we get through this primary season, that the enemy is Donald Trump and MAGA extremism in terms of trying to bring about the type of America that we all desire,” Jeffries said.

Tags

Donald Trump

Hakeem Jeffries

Jen Psaki

Joe Biden

Joe Gruters

Kamala Harris

Zohran Mamdani

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.