Jen Psaki Asks Mamdani About Blizzard of ‘Islamophobic’ Attacks From Trump Allies

MSNBC host and former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki asked Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani about the blizzard of attacks he has faced from “MAGA Republicans” after his stunning mayoral primary upset win over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

After Mamdani’s victory, a slew of MAGA figures posted attacks on the candidate, who is a democratic socialist and a Muslim American — both of which figured heavily in the barrage.

On Wednesday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, Mamdani told Psaki how “deeply disappointing” he finds the attacks — as well as the “regular death threats”:

PSAKI: You’re going to be dealing with tremendous attacks from MAGA Republicans. We’ve already seen that over the last 24 hours, including from Stephen Miller, Elise Stefanik, the NRCC. They’re already trying to run an Islamophobic campaign against you, which I will just note, and you’ve lived this, but for people who are just tuning in, is a continuation of some of the tactics that we saw during the primary. But it’s going to come tenfold. I know you know that, but how are you going to handle that personally?

MAMDANI: You know, it’s sad in that in one sense it’s unsurprising, in another, it is still deeply disappointing to see what politics has become in this moment, to have to deal with regular death threats where I’m told that someone is going to blow up my car and is going to kill me and my family and the people that I love. And I’ve spoken to many Muslims across this city who have shared that their fear of having to be essentially branded a terrorist just by living in public life is one that keeps them preferring life in the shadows, life outside of that specter. And this is not the way that we can have our city be. It’s not the way that we can have our country be.

This has to be a place where we understand the mutual belonging of each and every person here. And I’m lucky to have friends and family that keep me moving through this. I’m lucky that I’m able, through my campaign, to have security, and also to have the assistance of the NYPD in both investigating these threats and ensuring that I have the same public safety that each and every New Yorker deserves.

Watch above via MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki.