Zohran Mamdani called former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s latest attacks against him “disgusting” and “racist” in the closing days of the New York City mayor's race, which show Mamdani leading in polls.
Cuomo on Oct. 23 said Mamdani, 34, couldn’t handle a crisis like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the city nearly 25 years ago. Cuomo, running as an independent, appeared on the conservative radio show, “Sid and Friends in the Morning,” the morning after a heated final debate with Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and a member of the state Assembly, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
“God forbid, another 9/11, can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?” Cuomo, 67, asked.
“I could,” host Sid Rosenberg said. “He’d be cheering.”
After laughing, Cuomo responded, “That’s another problem.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist state assemblyman, would be the first Muslim mayor in New York City history if polls hold until the Nov. 4 general election. Nearly one in 10 New Yorkers are Muslim, and many faced profiling and surveillance in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks. Data also indicates rising Islamophobia.
TVNL Comment: You would think there was no place in NYC for Islamophobia. Yeah, you'd think so, but apparently racism is alive and well here. Don't let it get to you, Assemblyman Mamdani. We really are better than this, with a few obvious exceptions.