ʿAlī is the mawlá (leader) to whomever the Prophet ﷺ is the leader
I fought along with ʿAlī to Yemen and I sensed estrangement from him. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and mentioned ʿAlī and talked down about him. I then saw the ˹color˺ on the face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ change and he said, "O Buraydah, am I not more prefered to the believers than themselves?" I said, "Yes O Messenger of Allah." He then said, "For whomever I am his mawlá (leader), then ʿAlī is his mawlá." and he mentioned the ḥadīth.
غَزَوْتُ مَعَ عَلِيٍّ إِلَى الْيَمَنِ فَرَأَيْتُ مِنْهُ جَفْوَةً فَقَدِمْتُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَذَكَرْتُ عَلِيًّا فَتَنَقَّصْتُهُ فَرَأَيْتُ وَجْهَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَتَغَيَّرُ فَقَالَ «يَا بُرَيْدَةُ أَلَسْتُ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ؟» قُلْتُ بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَقَالَ «مَنْ كُنْتُ مَوْلَاهُ فَعَلِيٌّ مَوْلَاهُ» وَذَكَرَ الْحَدِيثَ