CNN’s Abby Phillip Falsely Claims NYC Terror Attack’s Target Was Zohran Mamdani

CNN’s Abby Phillip falsely claimed that Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) was the target of a terror attack in New York City over the weekend during Tuesday evening’s edition of CNN NewsNight.

Teasing the next segment before commercial break, Phillip said the following:

Up next, two Republicans say Muslims don’t belong here after an attempted terror attack against New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani. And the House speaker, Mike Johnson, says nothing, really, to condemn those comments. Another special guest is going to be with us at the table when we come back.

But that’s not what happened. Far-right protesters gathered outside of Gracie Mansion on Saturday to protest Mamdani and what they called the “Islamic Takeover of New York City,” where they were met by counter-protesters.

As the two groups confronted one another, a member of the latter group, Emir Balat, proceeded to hurl an improvised explosive device at the former. Balat and a co-conspirator, Ibrahim Kayumi, have been arrested in connection with the attack.

Authorities have since revealed that Balat and Kayumi were inspired by ISIS and confirmed that the right-wing protesters were their target.

“These were ISIS-inspired actions,” said Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York on Monday. “Violence, particularly violence that has a terrorist bent, violence that is meant to chill free speech, violence that is meant to prevent us from gathering peaceably, will be met with swift justice.”

Phillip’s was the second major flub of the story by her network.

A CNN tweet about the attack had read:

Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather. But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home. Here’s what we know so far.

CNN later deleted the tweet and issued a statement acknowledging that it had “failed to reflect the gravity of the incident” and breached “the editorial standards we require for all our reporting.”

Phillip also issued a correction on Wednesday morning.

“I want to correct something I said last night. The bombs thrown in New York City over the weekend by ISIS inspired attackers was thrown into a crowd of anti-Muslim protestors and not specifically targeted at Mayor Mamdani,” she wrote in an X post. “That wording was inaccurate and I didn’t catch it ahead of time. I apologize for the error.”

Watch above via CNN.

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