Former President Barack Obama has refused to endorse left-wing New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani — even after a personal phone call with the Democratic Socialist candidate just days before the election.

Obama, who was in nearby Newark on Saturday campaigning for New Jersey gubernatorial hopeful Mikie Sherrill, chose not to cross the Hudson to back Mamdani, a move that underscores the growing rift between the Democratic establishment and the party’s far-left wing.

The former president’s silence is striking given his willingness to endorse other leftist mayors in the past — including then–candidate Bill de Blasio in 2013 and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — raising questions about whether Obama’s hesitation signals deeper concern over Mamdani’s particularly radical platform and its potential fallout for Democrats nationally.

Mamdani’s campaign, scrambling to spin the lack of endorsement as a positive, claimed that Obama’s phone call represented a “signal to New Yorkers.” His adviser Patrick Gaspard, a former Obama aide, told The New York Post, “President Obama doesn’t endorse in local races… His call to Zohran is a huge boost at a critical moment.”

But political observers aren’t buying it.

“Even Barack Obama realizes Mamdani is bad for New York and the Democratic Party,” said GOP strategist Rob Ryan. “He’s trying to protect Democrats from the stain of supporting a communist for mayor in America’s greatest city.”

Veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf agreed, warning that an Obama endorsement “could be used against Democrats across the country next year in close elections.”

Mamdani has campaigned on an aggressively socialist platform that includes raising taxes on the wealthy, establishing city-run grocery stores, and making public buses free. He previously backed the “Defund the Police” movement and has vowed to cut police funding — proposals that critics say would be catastrophic for public safety and New York’s business climate.

Despite leading the race with 40.6% support in a new AtlasIntel poll — compared to 34% for former Governor Andrew Cuomo and 24% for Republican Curtis Sliwa — Mamdani’s margin has narrowed sharply in the final days before the election. Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, has surged among moderate voters frustrated by Mamdani’s far-left proposals.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)