The 2025 New York City mayoral race was already chaotic. With a fractured Democratic Party, a sitting mayor running as an independent, and a former governor clawing for relevance, the contest had become a test of whether the city would embrace its left flank or retreat toward the political center.

Now, into that storm steps Anthony Weiner — disgraced former congressman, convicted felon, and two-time failed comeback candidate — with a blunt prediction: the Democratic Party’s most powerful figures will eventually fall in line behind Democratic Socialist nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“It’s inevitable,” Weiner declared Sunday on The Cats Roundtable radio program. Speaking to host John Catsimatidis, Weiner insisted that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — both Brooklyn powerhouses — will have no choice but to endorse Mamdani, despite their clear reluctance.

“At the end of the day, people like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, they are going to have to endorse the nominee of their party,” Weiner said. “They’re caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.”

Democrats’ Reluctant Embrace

For months, party leaders have danced around the Mamdani question. The Queens Assemblyman, who rose to prominence as part of the Democratic Socialists of America alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, shocked the political establishment by crushing Andrew Cuomo and other moderates in the Democratic primary. His victory sent tremors through the city’s political landscape, signaling a generational and ideological shift.

But national Democrats fear Mamdani’s brand of leftist politics could haunt them in the 2026 midterms. Republicans have already begun tying vulnerable Democrats across the country to Mamdani, painting him as the embodiment of socialist overreach.

Schumer and Jeffries, cautious of alienating moderates nationwide, have avoided endorsing him outright. But Weiner says their hesitation won’t last.

“Some people can stay on the sidelines, and I think you’re going to see a lot of people do that,” he said. “But the leaders of the party… they don’t have that luxury.”

A Broken Party and a Divided Race

Complicating matters is the rare spectacle of a sitting Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, running for re-election as an independent after declining to face Mamdani in the primary. Adams, whose moderate stance once made him a favorite of law enforcement and business leaders, now finds himself politically isolated.

Joining him on the independent line is former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who suffered a humiliating defeat at Mamdani’s hands but refuses to bow out quietly. Both men are long shots — but their presence on the ballot could split the anti-Mamdani vote, paving the way for the socialist to cruise to City Hall.

Weiner, no stranger to political humiliation himself, dismissed their chances. “Unfortunately, or fortunately … I think we’re going to have Zohran Mamdani as the mayor in New York City,” he said.

Weiner’s Tarnished Voice

That prediction comes with irony. Once a rising Democratic star, Weiner’s career imploded in 2011 after a sexting scandal forced his resignation from Congress. His attempted comeback in the 2013 mayoral race collapsed after further revelations under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger.” He later pleaded guilty to sexting a minor and served prison time.

Weiner recently attempted yet another political return, running for City Council earlier this year. He was trounced by Assemblyman Harvey Epstein.

Still, his voice carries a strange weight in this moment: a once-centrist Democrat, burned by scandal, warning that the party is swinging so far left it risks alienating mainstream voters.

“Right now, the Democratic Party in a lot of parts of New York… is very, very left to the point of falling off the edge of the cliff,” Weiner said.

The Stakes for Democrats

His words may be laced with bitterness, but they reflect a genuine dilemma for party leaders. To embrace Mamdani risks empowering Republicans nationwide who are eager to tie Democrats to socialism. To reject him risks fracturing the party in the nation’s largest city and energizing the left against its own leadership.

“The bigger problem is what outcomes are we going to get as citizens and taxpayers if these candidates are successful?” Weiner asked. “Unfortunately, it looks like we’re going to find out in New York City.”

A Test for the Future

The 2025 mayoral election is no longer just about New York. It is emerging as a bellwether for the Democratic Party’s identity: a choice between doubling down on a socialist vision or clinging to a centrist past.

If Weiner is right, Schumer and Jeffries will ultimately bite the bullet and endorse Zohran Mamdani — not because they want to, but because they must. And in doing so, they may signal that the Democratic Party’s future belongs less to its moderates and more to its insurgents.

For now, the only certainty is that New York’s political drama is far from over.