Hakeem Jeffries Dodges Mamdani's 'Black or African American' Claim in MSNBC Interview

New York Democrat and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Saturday declined to answer a direct question about his party's nominee in the NYC mayoral race during an interview on MSNBC.

Jeffries joined host Al Sharpton for the latest PoliticsNation on MSNBC Saturday, and the two discussed Democrats and the mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani , the self-described "democratic socialist" who defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo for the party nomination. Jeffries previously commented on another Mamdani controversy, that one regarding comments about Israel and Palestine, which Jeffries called "unacceptable."

The New York Times published an article on Thursday on revelations obtained via hacked information that, in his college application for Columbia University in 2009, the Democratic candidate born in Uganda to Indian parents identified himself as "Black or African American" as well as "Asian" in that portion of the application.

The NYT reported that Mamdani told the paper in an interview that, "he did not consider himself either Black or African American, but rather 'an American who was born in Africa.'"

"He said his answers on the college application were an attempt to represent his complex background given the limited choices before him, not to gain an upper hand in the admissions process," the article states.

However, after the publication of that article, a video from April of this year went viral for comments from the candidate on that exact type of identification.

A New York performance artist and ambush interviewer who goes by the handle "Crackhead Barney" asked Mamdani: "Would you claim the African-American status like Elon Musk?"

"No, I would not claim that status," Mamdani replied.

The artist pressed him, asking, "Why not? You're African, but you're an African, right? I know you grew up there."

"I'm proud to be Ugandan, but I think that that is misleading," said Mamdani at the time.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams , who is actually African-American, issued a statement condemning his opponent's past actions, calling them "an insult to every student who got into college the right way."

“The African American identity is not a check-box of convenience,” Adams said in the statement. “It’s a history, a struggle and a lived experience. For someone to exploit that for personal gain is deeply offensive.”

Cuomo's team also issued a statement through a spokesperson. Rich Azzopardi , stating that "This should come as no surprise since Mamdani, his proposals, his funding, and his background received absolutely no scrutiny from the press."

“This issue must be fully investigated, because, if true, it could be fraud and just the tip of the iceberg,” Azzopardi said.

Sharpton raised the issue with Jeffries on Saturday, presenting it as an attack by Mayor Adams and asking Jeffries for his response.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is attacking Mamdani over reports that he identified himself as African-American and Asian on a college application. Mamdani was born in Uganda, his parents from India. What are your thoughts on this issue? Mamdani has checked multiple boxes trying to capture what he calls the fullness of his background," Sharpton said. "I mean, is this a real issue to you?

Rather than answering whether it is an issue or commenting on the substance of the story or the criticisms, or even on the publishing of an article based on material obtained by a politically motivated source, hacker Jeffries instead offered essentially the same generic response he has relied on for most of the controversies surrounding Mamdani.

"I think to me, you know, the issue that we have to deal with in New York City, which our Democratic nominee did talk about extensively during the primary campaign, is affordability," he said, before going on at length about broad political issues he's focused on in the city.

Sharpton did not follow up on the lack of response.

SHARPTON Now, quick follow-up: New York City Mayor Eric Adams is attacking Mamdani over reports that he identified himself as African-American and Asian on a college application. Mamdani was born in Uganda; his parents are from India. What are your thoughts on this issue? Mamdani has checked multiple boxes in an effort to capture what he calls the fullness of his background. I mean, is this a real issue for you?

JEFFRIES I think for me, you know, the issue we have to deal with in New York City, which our Democratic nominee talked about extensively during the primary campaign, is affordability. And particularly in many of the neighborhoods being overwhelmed by gentrification and wiped out by housing displacement. Uh, whoever is going to be the next mayor of the City of New York really needs to articulate a concrete plan to ensure that working-class communities, including working-class communities of color, can still have a place in our great city. The city that both of us love, but we know is changing significantly in terms of the opportunity for working families and middle-class people to continue to call it home.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC .

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