Mamdani, AOC and other DSA members should leave party: Dem Rep. Tom Suozzi insists

[Celerity]

Full interview with Congressman Tom Suozzi | The Point 8.31.25

https://www.aol.com/mamdani-aoc-other-dsa-members-203918818.html

Democratic Socialist of America members — including New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — should leave the Democratic Party and create their own, Rep. Tom Suozzi said.

“Zohran Mamdani and other Democratic Socialists should create their own party because I don’t want that in my party,” Suozzi, a Democrat, said of the far left policies on CBS New York’s “The Point” show with Marcia Kramer that aired Sunday.

Suozzi — whose third congressional district includes parts of Queens as well as Long Island — also said he hopes “he [Mamdani] doesn’t win” the mayoralty because “it will be bad for the Democratic Party.”

And he said House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries should not endorse Mamdani, the party’s nominee for City Hall, because it will “be bad for the Democratic Party nationwide.” Suozzi endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the June Democratic primary — but Mamdani handily defeated the former governor to cinch the party’s nomination.

snip

[gab13by13]

1. What a perfect example of Democrats eating their own.

[woodsprite]

2. It's not up to what HE wants. It's whatever the PEOPLE want! nt

[MaineBlueBear]

3. He is welcome to leave the democratic party, too

I formally invite him to offer progress or get out of the way.

[Arazi]

4. Could he be any more out of touch?

He’s not the oldest Dem in Congress but he’s definitely one whose demonstrating how insulated many Dems are from the current mood on the street.

[Prairie Gates]

5. Suozzi currently holds the seat held by con artist and current resident of federal prison

George Santos.

The portion of his district that is in New York City is not going to vote for Mamdani anyway (Douglaston, Bayside/Bay Terrace, Whitestone), and may not even go for Cuomo. Some of those idiotic Whitestone districts will probably vote for Sliwa. The Long Island/ Nassau County parts of his district (obviously not relevant to the Mayor's race) are also fairly conservative nowadays, so Suozzi will likely have a bit of a slugfest in 2026.

In other words, it makes no difference if he says this, and it's probably a net gain for 2026. It's not going to hurt Mamdani at all, since he will lose those areas anyway. I liken this to letting a vulnerable member vote against a bill if you already have the votes elsewhere. It's not a great look, but it's also not particularly damaging.

All House seats are local. Let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good here.

[Celerity]

16. Profound misuse of the 'Let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good here.' axiom.

Suozzi is literally calling for AOC and others to leave the Democratic Party.

Not only is that a hardcore 'purity test' but it would be ruinous for our Party if adopted as SOP.

Start demanding (from a leadership level) elected Dems (of the typology who centrists to conservative Dems like Problem Solver Suozzi and others happen to disagree with) leave (or worse, be tossed out of) the Democratic Party and watch our national vote tallies plummet, especially with the under 45yo younger cohorts.

[Prairie Gates]

18. Hmmm

I like you, but we're going to disagree on this. He has to hold NY3. If you'd ever walked a precinct in Bayside, you'd know this is the route to that. I think it has zero national effect at all.

[Celerity]

21. There is a large difference between disagreement philosophically versus telling fellow Democrats to leave the party.

Talk about big tent party coalition sabotage. It's Democrtic Party voter suppression writ large.

[Prairie Gates]

22. We've both made our positions clear

Have a good one.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. Performative Centrist Alert!

Suozzi is co-chair of the Problem Solvers caucus, who sabotaged Biden’s BBB.

From Wikipedia:

In 2021, the Campaign Legal Center filed an ethics complaint against him, alleging he failed to report nearly 300 stock transactions worth between $3.2 million and $11 million, as required by the STOCK Act.[58][59] During a congressional deposition, Suozzi defended the omissions, stating, "ethics is a big priority for me, but some of the formalities are not necessarily something I make a priority of."[60] In July 2022, the House Ethics Committee ruled his violations were not "knowing or willful" and dismissed the case.[61]

[Blue Full Moon]

7. So is he in the Epstein files?

[Emile]

8. Pro Israel centrist Tom Suozzi needs to shut up!

[AloeVera]

31. Perhaps its AIPAC that wants Mamdani and progressives to leave...

Hmmm...

[SSJVegeta]

9. If you want purity tests, become a Republican.

[Intractable]

10. He needs to be primaried from the left.

[carpetbagger]

15. He needs to be primaried period.

I think the progressive wing has more viable answers right now, but a loyal centrist would be a warning flare to New York Democrats of limited loyalty and a good step towards having a party ready to lead when we get the chance.

[Emile]

24. +1

[LeftInTX]

11. No, they shouldn't

[Ping Tung]

12. Are Loylalty Oath signatures obligatory to be a Democrat? Somebody should inform Suozzi thatthis is a de,pcracy

I've been a registered Democrat since 1965 and and a Socialist since about 1961 and I still believe that how I vote is up to me.

[Bettie]

13. He sounds like a guy

who will announce his party switch right after the next election.

[Nanjeanne]

14. Mamdani and AOC represent my values. And I'm a Democrat. So fuck you Suozzi. Your stance

on transgender rights, your op Ed about Dem should work with Trump, your involvement with “problem solvers” caucus, siding with Rs on the Laken Riley bill, your opposition to NY redistributing in response to Rs plan, your cesure of Al Green and more make me wish you would choose to leave the D party. But people elected you just as people elected AOC and Mamdani - so STFU.

[flying_wahini]

17. If the GOP can have people from J6, the KKK and the Nazi's then we can have socialists.

Go fuck yourself

[Johonny]

19. Some Democrats dont want to win

PS Trump is the most socialist president we've had. Indeed, he is starting to resemble Stalinist Russia. Pray he doesn't start coming up with 5 year plans . . .

OMG a city run grocery store, versus the US government buying up Intel, or dictating what is acceptable to private universities, law firms, media outlets, corporations. . . What type of socialism do you want?

[tritsofme]

20. We're lucky to have his seat at all, it's a district Trump carried in 2024.

One of the very few that also sent a Democrat to the House.

[womanofthehills]

23. If he keeps up with the pro Israel stuff

The young will not vote for him next time around.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

25. Tom Suozzi should go fuck himself.

You want to completely lose the youth vote? Do his plan.

[bucolic_frolic]

26. Shrink the tent!

is not a winning strategy.

[walkingman]

27. As a yellow-dog Democrat, they represent my values. This is the 21st century.

[no_hypocrisy]

28. For all practical purposes, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a Democratic Socialist.

And I liked how the country turned out because of his policies.

[Nanjeanne]

30. As was MLK, Helen Keller, David Ben Gurion, Nelson Mandela, Tommy Douglas, Albert Einstein, George Orwell, Thomas Paine,

Margaret Sanger, Eugene Debs and more...

[markpkessinger]

29. So-called Centrists have controlled the party fior the last 30+ years . . .

. . . and what do they have to show for it?

They are the most stunningly entitled bunch I've ever seen, who seem to think their own very failure is what entitles them to continue to run the show! Fuck that!

[Keepthesoulalive]

32. New York City not a liberal enclave

It is a city of neighborhoods and many are conservative neighborhoods. A loud mouthed jerk makes a statement for attention and street creds and people on DU go nuts. Attacking democrats who have nothing to do with the city as centrist and non progressive is counterproductive. Let’s leave the little man in the gutter where he belongs. We have got to fight to take our country back ,not get involved with city politics.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

33. OR

we can talk about how fucking stupid his ideas are. I don't live in NYC and don't give a shit about who he represents. I hope they like him. But when he starts talking about the party as a whole and what should be done, the party as a whole as the obligation to point, laugh, and tell him he's dumb.

[Keepthesoulalive]

34. I don't have a problem with that

He should be mocked and shamed but don’t tar the Democratic Party. He won his district and that’s all. The conversation devolved into centrist Democrats and getting rid of the old guard because they won’t let the progressives through. This is a New York problem, let them work it out.