Top NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Tearfully Details Racist Death Threats: ‘It Takes a Toll’
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New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was overcome with emotion Wednesday while detailing the racist harassment he’s endured on the campaign trail.
During a press conference in East Harlem, Mamdani — the second-leading candidate for the Democratic primary behind only Andrew Cuomo — addressed critics’ claims that he’s anti-Semitic. Asked why he doesn’t reject those claims more passionately, he said:
And ultimately, to your question of why not a more visceral reaction, part of it has been colored by the fact that when I speak, epecially when I speak with emotion, I am then characterized by those same rivals as being a monster, as being “at the gates” — language that describes almost a barbarian looking to dismantle civilization.
And part of this is the very sad burden of what it means to be the first Muslim candidate to run for mayor, is to deal with dehumanizing language, to deal with a former governor — who doesn’t even view Muslims as being a part of this city sufficient that he would visit a mosque in the more than 10 years — and it pains me to be called an anti-Semite. It pains me to be painted as if I am somehow in opposition to the very Jewish New Yorkers that I know and love, and that are such a key part of the city; and yet, I know that when I share that emotion, I continue to face a language as if I am a beast.
Mamdani then took a moment to collect himself as he reflected on the hateful messages and death threats he receives on a regular basis.
“And it takes a toll to wake up in the morning and read messages that say things like,” Mamdani said before pausing. “I get messages that say, ‘The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.’ I get threats on my life, on the people that I love, and I try not to talk about it because the function of racism, as Toni Morrison said, is distraction. My focus has always been on making this a city that’s affordable, on making this a city that every New Yorker sees themselves in; and it takes a toll because this is a city that every single person deserves to be in. It’s a city that we all belong to.”
Watch the clip above.
