Ex-Obama Official Who Kept Returning to Hurl Racist Abuse at Muslim Food Cart Vendor Blames ‘The Heat of the Moment’
@itslaylas on Twitter/X
Stuart Seldowitz, who was caught on camera harassing a Muslim food cart vendor in New York City, has spoken out since being identified, trying to blame “the heat of the moment” for his racist tirade.
After the first video of Seldowitz went viral on Tuesday, in which he berated a food cart vendor from the sidewalk and spewed Islamophobic insults at him, he was quickly identified as a former National Security Counsel chief to former President Barack Obama. Many of his business associations since either denied they worked with him or cut ties.
But it became clear that this video was not the only one, and Twitter/X user “itslaylas” posted a second and third video of Seldowitz harassing the same vendor. She also stated that Seldowitz had been returning to the vendor for similar confrontations over the course of two weeks and that the NYPD had been notified, but no action had been taken because what Seldowitz was saying was “free speech.”
his harassment of the Halal Cart vendor at 83rd and 2nd ave has been ongoing for two weeks.
NYPD has been called multiple times, local precinct stated that “there is nothing they can do because it is free speech”. pic.twitter.com/6LYL40TTFK— Layla 🪬 (@itslaylas) November 21, 2023
Seldowitz was interviewed by City & State New York after being exposed for his Islamophobic rants and confirmed that he “had an argument with a food vendor” but “I’ve not seen the video, but I believe it’s probably me.” He explained his repeated confrontations:
I went to the food cart expecting to buy a soda and I had an understanding that most of the food cart guys in New York are Egyptian. So I said to him, “this is a tough time to be an Egyptian in New York.” And he said “why?” And I said, because of what happened on October 7, with Hamas. And he said, “well, I approve of Hamas” or “I like Hamas” or something like that.
If I had to do it all over again, I would not have raised the religious aspect. I don’t think I’m an Islamophobic guy. I’ve spoken up for equal treatment of Muslims on numerous occasions with numerous different people.
Seldowitz also offered up a tepid apology for his actions, saying “I regret the whole thing happened and I’m sorry. But you know, in the heat of the moment, I said things that probably I shouldn’t have said.”
Among the things Seldowitz said to the vendor “in the heat of the moment” (over the course of two weeks) that he didn’t think were Islamophobic were “Did you rape your daughter like Mohammed did?” and “What do you speak? You speak Arabic, the language of the Quran, the holy Quran. That some people use as a toilet” and also “You don’t speak English? That’s too bad. That’s why you’re selling food in in a food cart, because you’re ignorant, but you should learn English. It’ll help you when they deport you back to Egypt.” But also: “You’re a terrorist” and “if we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn’t enough.”
