In a fervent address outside a Bronx mosque on Friday, Zohran Mamdani denounced what he described as “Islamophobic” attacks aimed at his mayoral campaign. He accused his adversaries of deploying “racist, baseless” tactics to jeopardize his leading position in the race.
Mamdani, who aspires to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, has been vocal about the hatred he has encountered during his campaign. He specifically called out opponents, including Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams, and Republican contender Curtis Sliwa, for their roles in perpetuating this hostile discourse.
His remarks followed a controversy involving Cuomo, who faced criticism for his participation in a conversation where conservative talk show host Sid Rosenberg suggested Mamdani would support a repeat of 9/11.
“I believed that by building a campaign grounded in universality, I could emerge as the leader I aim to be—one who represents every New Yorker, regardless of skin color, religion, or birthplace,” Mamdani expressed. “… I was mistaken. No amount of redirection seems sufficient.”
After prayers concluded inside the mosque, Mamdani sought to connect with potential new voters by addressing shared anti-Muslim experiences to an audience largely comprising Bronx residents with West African roots.
Following his speech, campaign staff encouraged attendees to register to vote, aiming to bolster Mamdani’s support base.
Mamdani’s campaign has found success in tapping into constituencies that don’t always turn out in local elections, with a focus on groups such as younger New Yorkers, strongly pro-Palestine voters and Muslims.
“Raise your hand if you have had to deal with someone mispronouncing your name when you go to work,” he said to the crowd of Muslim men inside the Islamic Cultural Center.
“Raise your hand when someone has looked at you as a Muslim and called you a terrorist.”
Mamdani himself has come under fire over stances and positions seen as antisemitic, such as refusing to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” and not recognizing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Many Jewish New Yorkers have said they oppose the candidate out of fears of increased anti-semitism, which Mamdani has condemned.
In response to the democratic socialist’s speech, Cuomo slammed Mamdani as an “actor.”
“Today, he’s playing the victim, but in reality he is the offender,” Cuomo told reporters in Queens.
“What he has done has so offended the Jewish community in this city, I have never seen anything like it. You have the Jewish community that literally is afraid to leave their homes.”
