Latest news with #Gillibrand
The Hill
20 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Gillibrand calls for Mamdani to denounce ‘intifada' comments
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to denounce the phrase 'globalize the intifada' as he appears to be the likely Democratic nominee for the office. Gillibrand said in response to a question from a caller during an appearance on radio host Brian Lehrer's show on WNYC that she's heard from New York constituents who are 'extremely alarmed' by some public statements Mamdani has made defending those who call for global intifada. 'This is a very serious issue because people that glorify the slaughter of Jews create fear in our communities. The global intifada is a statement that means destroy Israel and kill all the Jews,' she argued. 'These are the kinds of things that, if Mr. Mamdani is elected our mayor, we'll need to assure all New Yorkers that he will protect all Jews and protect houses of worship and protect funding for not-for-profits that meet the needs of these communities,' Gillibrand continued. The meaning of the phrase has caused significant debate, particularly since Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and throughout the war that has ensured. It also became a point of criticism directed at Mamdani leading up to this week's Democratic mayoral primary. Many pro-Palestinian activists have said the phrase means Palestinians fighting for their rights and liberation from Israeli occupation. Many pro-Israel activists and many Jewish people view it as calling for violence against Jews, referencing the first and second intifadas that took place in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, during which Palestinians in both Palestinian territories and Israel engaged in an uprising in which significant violence occurred and many on both sides died. Mamdani faced criticism as the primary approached over an interview he gave last week in which he said 'what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.' He made a comparison between those calls for intifada and the Warsaw ghetto uprising the took place during the Holocaust in which Jews fought back against the Nazis and some escaped. He cited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., saying the museum used the word 'intifada' when translating the Warsaw Uprising into Arabic, as intifada means 'struggle.' This led to the museum issuing a rare statement denouncing the comparison, calling it 'offensive to survivors.' Mamdani has responded to the criticism by maintaining that he would be a major for all New Yorkers and is committed to protecting his Jewish constituents against rising antisemitism. Gillibrand said she had spoken to him about this issue and he agreed to work with her to protect all residents of the city. 'These are things that he has assured me in my one conversation that he will protect everyone, but I understand why people are concerned because of past statements,' she said. 'This is just an issue that I will work with him on, for sure.' Gillibrand also made references to Mamdani using the word 'jihad,' but her communications director later said in a post on X that she misspoke and her concern was Mamdani's refusal to denounce 'globalize the intifada.' 'As a leader of a city as diverse as New York City, with 8 million people, as the largest Jewish population in the country, he should denounce it,' she said, referring to the intifada phrase. 'That's it. Period. You can't celebrate it. You can't value it. You can't lift it up. That is the challenge that Jewish New Yorkers have had certainly since Oct. 7. It is exactly what they have felt.' Gillibrand said she's not endorsing Mamdani right now but congratulated him on his victory in the primary. The Hill has reached out to Mamdani's campaign for comment. Mamdani seems all but certain to become the Democratic nominee for mayor, scoring a major upset against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani hasn't formally been declared the winner yet, but Cuomo conceded the primary and Mamdani declared victory. Cuomo has been considering whether to continue in the general election as an independent, which he has qualified for.
New York Post
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Sen. Gillibrand rips NYC mayor hopeful Zohran Mamdani's controversial intifada comments, insists he should ‘denounce it'
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has ripped mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani's controversial comments on intifada — insisting the Democratic socialist should emphatically 'denounce it' if he wants to rep the Big Apple. Gillibrand, a pro-Israel Democrat, laid into Mamdani for refusing to condemn the 'globalize the intifada' rallying cry used by others as she demanded a sit-down with him so he can explain himself. 'As a leader of a city as diverse as New York City with 8 million people, as the largest Jewish population in the country, he should denounce it. And that's it. Period,' Gillibrand said during an appearance on WNYC on Thursday. 4 Zohran Mamdani won the NYC mayoral election primary. REUTERS 4 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sparred with radio hosts on Mamdani's victory. LP Media The senator stressed that it was not enough for the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman to dubiously claim that intifada is not a call for violence but a broader term referring to resistance and uprisings. 'It doesn't matter what meaning you have in your brain, it is not how the word is received. And when you use a word like Intifada, to many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, that means you are permissive for violence against Jews,' Gillibrand said. 'It is a serious word. It is a word that has deep meaning. It has been used for wars across time and violence and destruction and slaughter and murder against the Jews,' she continued. 4 Zohran Mamdani is an assemblyman now running to be NYC's. next mayor. Stephen Yang 'It is a harmful, hurtful, inappropriate word for anyone who wants to represent a city as diverse as New York City with 8 million people.' Gillibrand said she spoke to Mamdani on the phone after his Democratic primary upset over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this week, but now wants a meeting to hash it out. 'I've never sat down with Mr Mamdani. So I've asked to have that meeting. I'm going to have that meeting,' she said. 4 New York, New York, United States: U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) alongside U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mariama James (R). Gillibrand said she had already expressed her concerns directly to Mamdani about his statements regarding Israel and pubic safety — and that he'd vowed to work with her if he's elected. 'This is something I care deeply about, and so I will be an advocate on these issues. These are things that I think are important to New Yorkers,' she said. 'And I will work with him when he gets elected, if he gets elected, to make sure everyone is protected.'
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Senate Democrats' campaign chair sees the 2026 map: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, Bridget Bowman speaks with Kirsten Gillibrand, the chair of Senate Democrats' campaign arm, about how the map is shaping up ahead of next year's midterm elections. Plus, Andrea Mitchell looks at Elon Musk's lasting legacy in Washington. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here. — Adam Wollner Democrats will have to win some red states if they have any hope of taking control of the Senate next year. And the senator tasked with leading that effort believes President Donald Trump has given them an opening after he won those states easily months ago. 'I look at the map, and every state's on the table because of this growing backlash that President Trump's decisions have created, with his cuts to Medicaid and his unwillingness to address affordability issues,' Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told NBC News in an interview at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters on Wednesday. Gillibrand also said she isn't ruling out taking sides in Democratic primaries as her party looks to net four Senate seats to take control of the chamber, saying she is 'definitely not ruling out anything in any state.' 'We're going to look at every state on a case-by-case basis and make our assessment as to who's the best candidate in that state, and then make decisions based on that,' Gillibrand said. Battleground targets: Democrats' ripest targets in 2026 are GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, which Trump lost by nearly 7 percentage points in November, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, which Trump won by 3 points. Both incumbents are battle-tested, winning contested races in their last cycles on the ballot. Former Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel has already launched a run in North Carolina, while former House staffer Jordan Wood is running in Maine. But Democrats are still eyeing Maine Gov. Janet Mills and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as possible recruits. Venturing into Trump country: Even if Democrats win those two states, and hold onto their current seats in other battlegrounds, they would still need to flip two additional Senate seats in states Trump won by double digits last year to get to a majority. That could mean targeting ruby red states like Texas, Iowa, Alaska, South Carolina and others. Democrats do not currently hold a single Senate seat in the 24 states that Trump carried in all three of his presidential runs, after several red-state losses in 2024. And Trump won each of those states by double digits last year. Gillibrand said the 'magic formula' for Democratic success involves a combination of 'deep Republican backlash' to Trump and some of his policies, like slashing social safety net programs and imposing steep tariffs, and 'extraordinarily strong candidates who represent their states well,' as well as boosts from the DSCC to help those candidates build up their campaigns. Read more from Bridget → Much of the discussion around Elon Musk's departure from the White House has focused on how the Department of Government Efficiency failed to reach its lofty spending-cuts goal and the political fallout from the billionaire megadonor's break from President Donald Trump over the 'big, beautiful bill.' But what has gone more overlooked is how Musk transformed the government in profound ways in a very short period of time. Musk has faced criticism for leaving Washington without achieving his initial goal of slashing the government spending by an eye-popping $2 trillion (or even his scaled-back target of $1 trillion). That would have required him to cut billions of dollars from defense and entitlements. Combined with mandatory payments of interest on the debt, those accounts are where the money is, to paraphrase Willie Sutton on why he robbed banks. But Musk never proposed taking on those sacred cows. DOGE says it has saved the government $180 billion. Independent groups such as the Partnership for Public Service calculate it actually cost the government $135 billion. While failing to materially reduce the deficit, Musk did succeed in carrying out an alternate mission — eliminating all but a trickle of foreign aid and slashing the domestic federal workforce to fit a MAGA campaign mandate. By the State Department's own acknowledgment, 80% of USAID grants were terminated. The World Food Program and CARE, both previously receiving U.S. grants, have reported severe starvation, principally in Sub-Saharan Africa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified to Congress that the cancellation of medical services — including antiretroviral HIV/AIDs vaccinations — have not resulted in any deaths. But United Nations agencies and eyewitness accounts by journalists — including Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times — have reported on the deaths of many children, potentially thousands, in Sudan and other conflict zones. There are other DOGE results that are likely irreversible, including the brain drain caused by the thousands of firings at National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, there is the silencing of the independent and highly regarded Voice of America, previously reaching more than 300 million listeners a week. Then there's the shuttering of think tanks like the Wilson Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace; the firings of CIA officers who take years to recruit and train; the scaling back of the Veterans Administration and Social Security Administration; and the prospective closure of U.S. embassies and consulates. And there are the cuts to public broadcasting and the Department of Education as well as the sensitive personal data DOGE employees were able to access. Yes, Mr. Musk has left Washington. But he's certainly left his mark. 👷 Steely demeanor: Trump's 50% tariff on steel has now gone into effect, providing a massive boost for one of America's most storied industries at the potential cost of a broader slowdown elsewhere in the U.S. economy. Read more → 💲Big, beautiful price tag: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over 10 years and increase the number of people without health insurance by 10.9 million. Read more → 📱On line 1: Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would retaliate against Ukraine's major drone attack over the weekend, casting doubt that a peace deal to end the war could come soon. Read more → 🏫 School's out: The Trump administration claimed Columbia University violated Jewish students' rights, threatening the school's accreditation. Read more → ➡️ Deportation ramp-up: A nationwide, ICE-led plan called 'Operation At Large' is underway to escalate arrests of unauthorized immigrants. It includes more than 5,000 personnel from across federal law enforcement agencies and up to 21,000 National Guard troops. Read more → 🗳️ Democrats' next test: The six Democrats running for governor in New Jersey in next week's primary embody different paths forward for their party. Read more → 📖 Read all about it: Former Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent, according to a press release about her upcoming book. Read more → Follow live politics coverage → That's all From the Politics Desk for now. Today's newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@ And if you're a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Democrats' campaign chief says 'every state's on the table' in fight for majority
Democrats will have to win some red states if they have any hope of taking control of the Senate next year, and the senator tasked with leading that effort believes President Donald Trump has given them an opening after he won those states easily months ago. 'I look at the map, and every state's on the table because of this growing backlash that President Trump's decisions have created, with his cuts to Medicaid and his unwillingness to address affordability issues,' Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told NBC News in an interview at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters on Wednesday. Gillibrand also said she isn't ruling out taking sides in Democratic primaries as her party looks to net four Senate seats to take control of the chamber, saying that she is 'definitely not ruling out anything in any state.' 'We're going to look at every state on a case-by-case basis and make our assessment as to who's the best candidate in that state, and then make decisions based on that,' Gillibrand said. Democrats' ripest targets in 2026 are GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, which Trump lost by nearly 7 percentage points in November, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, which Trump won by 3 points. Both incumbents are battle-tested, winning contested races in their last cycles on the ballot. Former Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel has already launched a run in North Carolina, while former House staffer Jordan Wood is running in Maine. But Democrats are still eyeing Maine Gov. Janet Mills and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as possible recruits. While Cooper is weighing a run, Mills has not exactly sounded enthusiastic about challenging Collins, telling the Maine Trust for Local News in April, 'I'm not planning to run for anything. Things change week to week, month to month, but at this moment I'm not planning to run for another office.' Asked if it has been difficult to recruit against Collins, who has a record of winning tough races, including victory in 2020 even as Trump lost Maine decisively, Gillibrand said negative reaction to Trump's policies is 'changing the thinking of a lot of potential candidates.' 'So I am certain we will have formidable candidates in North Carolina and Maine because of this growing backlash that President Trump has created,' Gillibrand said. Even if Democrats win those two states, and hold on to their current seats in other battlegrounds, they would still need to flip two additional Senate seats in states Trump won by double digits last year to get to a majority. That could mean targeting ruby red states like Texas, Iowa, Alaska, South Carolina and others. Democrats do not currently hold a single Senate seat in the 24 states that Trump carried in all three of his presidential runs, after several red-state losses in 2024. And Trump won each of those states by double digits last year. Gillibrand said the 'magic formula' for Democratic success involves a combination of 'deep Republican backlash' to Trump and some of his policies, like slashing social safety net programs and imposing steep tariffs, and 'extraordinarily strong candidates who represent their states well,' as well as boosts from the DSCC to help those candidates build up their campaigns. Contested Democratic primaries are already taking shape in Iowa, where GOP Sen. Joni Ernst is up for re-election, as well as in competitive states where Democrats are defending open seats, including Michigan and Minnesota. Ernst has also been in the spotlight for responding to a constituent at a town hall who suggested the House Republicans' proposed Medicaid cuts could cause people to die and saying, 'Well, we all are going to die.' Asked if such comments give Democrats a better shot at defeating Ernst next year, Gillibrand said Ernst's remarks exemplify Trump's 'very callous approach towards health care, cutting seniors, cutting people with disabilities, children, pregnant women and veterans off of their Medicaid.' Gillibrand said those cuts are creating 'a significant backlash that certainly puts a state like Iowa in play' along with 'many other red states around the country.' Democrats, meanwhile, are going to be focused on 'commonsense, kitchen table issues' of affordability and public safety, Gillibrand said. The New York Democrat argued those were winning messages for successful candidates in her home state last year, where she led a coordinated campaign with Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to boost Democratic House candidates. Democrats flipped three GOP-held House seats in New York even as Trump made gains throughout the state. Trump ultimately lost New York but improved on his 2020 election margin by 11 points, which was the biggest swing toward Trump of any state in the country. Republicans are looking to capitalize on Trump's gains as they target Hochul in her re-election run next year, as well as other House Democrats. (Gillibrand said she is supporting Hochul for re-election as she faces a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.) Republicans are also looking to reprise attacks on Democrats over whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in female sports. One Nation, a nonprofit tied to the GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, already launched an attack on the issue against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia. Ossoff represents one of two states, along with Michigan, that Democrats are defending that Trump also carried last year. 'Each candidate will address it as they see fit,' Gillibrand said when asked how Democrats should respond to those attacks. Gillibrand said she is 'very optimistic that Sen. Ossoff will not only win his race, but show rest of the country, you know, who he is and what Democrats stand for.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
04-06-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
How Senate Democrats' campaign chair sees the 2026 map: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, Bridget Bowman speaks with Kirsten Gillibrand, the chair of Senate Democrats' campaign arm, about how the map is shaping up ahead of next year's midterm elections. Plus, Andrea Mitchell looks at Elon Musk's lasting legacy in Washington. — Adam Wollner How Senate Democrats' campaign chair sees the 2026 map Democrats will have to win some red states if they have any hope of taking control of the Senate next year. And the senator tasked with leading that effort believes President Donald Trump has given them an opening after he won those states easily months ago. 'I look at the map, and every state's on the table because of this growing backlash that President Trump's decisions have created, with his cuts to Medicaid and his unwillingness to address affordability issues,' Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told NBC News in an interview at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters on Wednesday. Gillibrand also said she isn't ruling out taking sides in Democratic primaries as her party looks to net four Senate seats to take control of the chamber, saying she is 'definitely not ruling out anything in any state.' 'We're going to look at every state on a case-by-case basis and make our assessment as to who's the best candidate in that state, and then make decisions based on that,' Gillibrand said. Battleground targets: Democrats' ripest targets in 2026 are GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, which Trump lost by nearly 7 percentage points in November, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, which Trump won by 3 points. Both incumbents are battle-tested, winning contested races in their last cycles on the ballot. Former Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel has already launched a run in North Carolina, while former House staffer Jordan Wood is running in Maine. But Democrats are still eyeing Maine Gov. Janet Mills and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as possible recruits. Venturing into Trump country: Even if Democrats win those two states, and hold onto their current seats in other battlegrounds, they would still need to flip two additional Senate seats in states Trump won by double digits last year to get to a majority. That could mean targeting ruby red states like Texas, Iowa, Alaska, South Carolina and others. Democrats do not currently hold a single Senate seat in the 24 states that Trump carried in all three of his presidential runs, after several red-state losses in 2024. And Trump won each of those states by double digits last year. Gillibrand said the 'magic formula' for Democratic success involves a combination of 'deep Republican backlash' to Trump and some of his policies, like slashing social safety net programs and imposing steep tariffs, and 'extraordinarily strong candidates who represent their states well,' as well as boosts from the DSCC to help those candidates build up their campaigns. Analysis by Andrea Mitchell Much of the discussion around Elon Musk's departure from the White House has focused on how the Department of Government Efficiency failed to reach its lofty spending-cuts goal and the political fallout from the billionaire megadonor's break from President Donald Trump over the 'big, beautiful bill.' But what has gone more overlooked is how Musk transformed the government in profound ways in a very short period of time. Musk has faced criticism for leaving Washington without achieving his initial goal of slashing the government spending by an eye-popping $2 trillion (or even his scaled-back target of $1 trillion). That would have required him to cut billions of dollars from defense and entitlements. Combined with mandatory payments of interest on the debt, those accounts are where the money is, to paraphrase Willie Sutton on why he robbed banks. But Musk never proposed taking on those sacred cows. DOGE says it has saved the government $180 billion. Independent groups such as the Partnership for Public Service calculate it actually cost the government $135 billion. While failing to materially reduce the deficit, Musk did succeed in carrying out an alternate mission — eliminating all but a trickle of foreign aid and slashing the domestic federal workforce to fit a MAGA campaign mandate. By the State Department's own acknowledgment, 80% of USAID grants were terminated. The World Food Program and CARE, both previously receiving U.S. grants, have reported severe starvation, principally in Sub-Saharan Africa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified to Congress that the cancellation of medical services — including antiretroviral HIV/AIDs vaccinations — have not resulted in any deaths. But United Nations agencies and eyewitness accounts by journalists — including Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times — have reported on the deaths of many children, potentially thousands, in Sudan and other conflict zones. There are other DOGE results that are likely irreversible, including the brain drain caused by the thousands of firings at National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, there is the silencing of the independent and highly regarded Voice of America, previously reaching more than 300 million listeners a week. Then there's the shuttering of think tanks like the Wilson Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace; the firings of CIA officers who take years to recruit and train; the scaling back of the Veterans Administration and Social Security Administration; and the prospective closure of U.S. embassies and consulates. And there are the cuts to public broadcasting and the Department of Education as well as the sensitive personal data DOGE employees were able to access. Yes, Mr. Musk has left Washington. But he's certainly left his mark.
