Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) on Sunday reacted to chants of “you’re next” from members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) directed at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
CNN’s Jake Tapper played a clip of the DSA members chanting while at a bar during the New York primary election on Tuesday, when several DSA members won races against incumbent Democratic lawmakers.
Those races pitted New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who backed the insurgent candidates, against Jeffries, who backed two incumbents and a third candidate who had also drawn supporting from a member retiring from her district.
Tapper asked Warnock about what he thought about the chants, after assessing that the group making the chant was mostly white. He noted that Jeffries could become the first Black House Speaker in U.S. history if Democrats reclaim the lower chamber.
“You know, as I’ve said, we have robust and rambunctious arguments about the direction of the party, but the focus is on the concerns of ordinary people,” Warnock replied. “Look, I don’t believe in abolishing the police. You can’t have security without police. You don’t have a country without borders. But this debate will go on.”
He added that Black Americans “are not a monolith. They will respond as they are hearing candidates, center their concerns.”
“I think part of the problem with politics, quite frankly, in our country, is that we made the politics about the politicians,” he continued. “Which candidate is in, who’s out, who’s up, who’s down, what’s going to happen to this politician come November? I’m worried about what’s going to happen to ordinary people who can’t afford their lives right now.”
Warnock said both parties have “not adequately responded” to Americans’ concerns over the cost of living. He urged Democrats to “center the people” and hold “Donald Trump and his henchmen accountable.”
Candidates backed by DSA and endorsed by Mamdani, also a DSA member, won several primaries against New York state incumbents, with a focus largely on support for Israel versus advocacy for the people of Gaza. Mamdani’s campaign last year focused on the issue, as he criticized Israel’s actions while speaking out for Palestinian people.
Warnock’s remarks echoed those made last week by Jeffries, who asked Democrats to remember that after the midterm elections are over, the “enemy is Donald Trump and MAGA extremism.”
“And so, listen. I think at the end of the day, individual congressional districts, the beauty of it, all are made up by a diverse group of people who have a diverse set of perspectives on a wide variety of issues,” he told MS NOW’s Jen Psaki on Wednesday.
Jeffries also voiced his support for Israel, adding that he supports “the aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve the dignity, respect, autonomy and self-determination that they appropriately desire, and we need to find a just and lasting peace.”
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