Some of President Donald Trump’s allies are worrying that his kind words for Zohran Mamdani, the socialist mayor of New York City, are undercutting the party’s midterm election-focused message attacking “communism.”

“It certainly muddies the waters,” one longtime Trump campaign operative told the Washington Examiner after the president praised Mamdani during a Monday trip to Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence. “He needs to stop doing stuff like this. Everything is on the line in November. Maybe not for him, but for all the rest of us.”