Attorney General Letitia James of New York is expected to rebuke President Trump and urge voters to support Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, at a rally on Monday night. It will be her first public appearance since she was indicted on federal charges of bank fraud and making a false statement.
The rally in Washington Heights comes as Mr. Mamdani, who maintains a double-digit lead over former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, is kicking off a get-out-the-vote push before the Nov. 4 general election. His rally will focus on the argument that his vision for a more affordable New York City is inclusive of residents across the ideological, socioeconomic and racial spectrum.
Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani, said the “breadth and depth of our coalition” would be on full display at the rally, which is titled “Our Time Has Come.”
“In front of thousands of New Yorkers, the campaign will say goodbye to the broken, billionaire-funded status quo and build a future politics where everyone can afford to live a dignified life,” Ms. Pekec said.
New York’s Democratic politicians have rushed to Ms. James’s defense since she was indicted on Thursday in the Eastern District of Virginia. The indictment was secured by Mr. Trump’s handpicked prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan. Mr. Mamdani has been among Ms. James’s most fervent supporters.
He organized a news conference on Friday morning in Foley Square to condemn the indictment and then returned there on Friday night for a rally, where he led the crowd in chants of “Hands Off Tish.” Mr. Mamdani also rebuked Mr. Cuomo, who is running on an independent line, for releasing a statement about the indictment that didn’t mention the names of Ms. James or Mr. Trump. (Mr. Cuomo later released a statement in which he referred to Ms. James.)
“We say to Donald Trump that if you want to get to the attorney general, you are going to have to get through every single one of us,” Mr. Mamdani said on Friday.
A person close to Ms. James confirmed her planned appearance at the Monday rally and said she had been humbled by the outpouring of support since the indictment. Her campaign for re-election next year has raised approximately $1 million since Thursday, 79 percent of it from new donors, the person said.
Ms. James has also spoken with Senator Chuck Schumer, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as well as Democratic leaders from around the country in the days since the indictment was announced.
Although she initially said she would rank Mr. Mamdani third on her ranked-choice ballot for the primary, Ms. James has since become one of his most important backers. At a rally the weekend before the June 24 primary, she compared his bid to Barack Obama’s first presidential run. After Mr. Mamdani’s surprisingly strong victory over Mr. Cuomo, she spoke at his election night victory party.
Ms. James is popular in the Democratic stronghold of Brooklyn and is seen as a link between the moderate and progressive wings of the state’s Democratic Party. Her base also includes older Black voters, an important part of the state’s Democratic core, and one that Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, struggled with in the primary.
At the rally, Mr. Mamdani is expected to address how to defend the city from Mr. Trump while acting on his affordability agenda. Mr. Trump has falsely called Mr. Mamdani a communist and has threatened to pull federal funding from the city if he is elected.