‘Hold On!’ CNN Anchor Bristles at Trump Fan Citing Fear of ‘a Muslim Mayor’ If Mamdami Wins

CNN anchor Abby Phillip objected when Miami Republican and prominent Trump supporter Angie Wong cited “fear” of a “Muslim mayor” causing an exodus if Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani wins in New York.

After Mamdani’s stunning upset primary win over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, 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 Thursday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip — who hosted a panel on those bigoted attacks the night before — objected when Wong said she’s heard from New Yorkers “concerned about their safety, living here with a Muslim mayor”:

WONG: Yeah, we had so many people — so many New Yorkers like myself move to Florida during the COVID years. We’re going to have a second wave, and we’ve got plenty of land and real estate down there. You’re going to see an exodus if Zohran gets in, and we’re already being promised that not just because of high cost of living but because of the Jewish base here.

They’re scared and I’m hearing from, you know, various people here in New York and they — they’re just — they’re concerned about their safety, living here with a Muslim mayor, and that’s the problem.

ALLISON: That’s highly problematic.

PHILLIP: Hold on. Hold on.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIP: Hold on. We talk — hold on. We talked about this yesterday, and since you brought it up, might as well bring it up again. The idea that because he is Muslim, he is a threat to Jewish New Yorkers, is that really interesting?

WONG: No. It’s because of his anti-Israel rhetoric that he’s been putting out there.

PHILLIP: But what does that have to do with him being Muslim? I think this is where things — you can go after his policies, but what does that have to do with his faith?

WONG: It’s not about his faith. It’s because he is perpetuating this anti-Israeli rhetoric, and New Yorkers are hearing it, and they’re scared. That’s what I’m hearing back from friends —

(CROSSTALK)

LEON: He’s aimed at Abby. He’s aimed at Abby. He’s aimed at a lot of Bibi (ph). But he did the interview with Mehdi Hasan and he aimed at Abibi. Not necessarily–

(CROSSTALK)

MALDONADO: Abby, he’s Muslim. Who cares? That’s not the point here. His policies are the problem. I think his biggest deficiency is defund the police. If he sticks to that, I think Mayor Adams has a great shot of winning this thing. But if Cuomo gets in the race, I think Zohran’s the next mayor of New York.

ALLISON: I think you’re right. I think that also — well, I don’t even know how to spend my time on Cuomo, but I think that he — I don’t think he has defunded the police. He has this perspective on public safety that a lot of people have, is that for some issues that happen on the street with mental health crisis, if you actually go and look at his policies, he’s saying what a lot of Republicans and Democrats has said that that the police are not the answer for all the problems in our city. And actually, a lot of police officers agree with that.

I think it comes down to this. I understand that Jewish Americans in this country are feeling very fearful. They have a right to because anti-Semitism is on the rise, and crimes towards Jewish people have been on the rise. Just like during COVID, crimes towards Asian Americans were on the rise because of rhetoric. So we have to be really careful about why people — people should not be afraid of him becoming mayor because he is Muslim. People should be afraid because anti-Semitism lives in this country and he does have policies.

I don’t live in New York, so I didn’t vote for him, but he does have policies that he would put some of his budget towards directly making sure that there’s an anti-hate component —

WONG: Yeah.

ALLISON: — in public safety that is specifically targeted towards Jewish Americans, which is what you want a mayor (inaudible).

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.