Another episode of Democrats Eating Their Own, brought to you by the ever-entertaining far-left corner of New York politics. This time, it’s 26-year-old City Council member and Democratic Socialist Chi Ossé tossing his bucket hat into the ring for a 2026 primary challenge against House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Because what could be a better use of time than launching a preemptive, performative campaign to knock off your own party’s top House leader?
Apparently, the revolution eats its own young—and then regurgitates them into campaign filings.
Now, Ossé isn’t just any council member. He’s a Gen Z darling who rose to notoriety during the BLM movement, won his seat in Brooklyn at 23, and has been doing his best ever since to make sure no one forgets how young, progressive, and Extremely Online™ he is. Never mind that just last month, he swore up and down that it would take a “very dire situation” for him to run for Congress. Well, surprise—it’s now dire, according to his Monday post on X. Apparently, “dire” means “my mentor just got some wins, and I want in on the spotlight.”
But even his fellow progressives are giving this move a side-eye. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the patron saint of Instagram Lives and democratic socialism in Congress, practically fled the room when asked about Ossé’s challenge. At first, she claimed she “wasn’t aware” of the campaign, which is a political classic for “don’t tie me to this mess.” Then she reluctantly added that it’s “not a good idea right now.” That’s code for “Please don’t make me publicly defend this nonsense.”
Even Zohran Mamdani—the very mayor-elect Ossé is cozy with—refused to offer a full-throated endorsement. Mind you, Mamdani himself is also a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and even he reportedly tried to talk Ossé out of doing this. When you’ve lost the guy whose whole brand is making moderates sweat, you might want to ask yourself if you’ve gone a bit too far down the revolution rabbit hole.
Let’s not forget: Hakeem Jeffries is the leader of the House Democrats. Not some random backbencher with a Twitter following and a podcast. This is the guy your party is supposed to rally behind heading into a critical election cycle, especially with a sitting Democrat in the White House. But hey, who needs unity when you can have chaos, hashtags, and intra-party knife fights?
And yes, this would all be mildly amusing if it didn’t underscore a much deeper issue for Democrats: their inability to control the wildfire they helped start. They’ve spent the last several years fanning the flames of identity politics, radical progressivism, and social justice absolutism. And now, those chickens are coming home to roost—with campaign filings and TikTok filters.
Republicans should be watching this with popcorn in hand. While Democrats bicker over whether their leader is progressive enough to remain in power, the GOP can focus on policy, messaging, and capitalizing on this very public implosion. The only people thrilled about this challenge? Republican strategists already drafting attack ads for 2026 that begin with: “Even Democrats don’t trust Hakeem Jeffries…”
So now we’ll have to see if Ossé follows through on this performative bid or if this was just a bit of political theater for the likes and attention. Either way, the message is loud and clear: the Democrat establishment is under siege from within, and not even their leader is safe from the whims of the latest revolutionary with a checkmark and a slogan.
Good luck with that “big tent” strategy.
