The emotional speech against Islamophobia by the front-runner in New York’s mayoral race came the day before early voting began.
New York mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani gave an emotional speech a day before early voting began in a race he is expected to win, calling out “racist and baseless attacks” from his opponents.
Speaking outside a mosque in the Bronx on Friday, Mamdani criticized his opponents for “bringing hatred to the fore,” noting that their Islamophobia affects not only him as the Democratic candidate for mayor but also the nearly 1 million Muslims who live in New York.
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“To be a Muslim in New York is to expect humiliation, but humiliation does not set us apart. Many New Yorkers have faced it. It is our tolerance of humiliation that allows us to tolerate it,” Mamdani said in a speech less than two weeks before the Nov. 4 general election.
Mamdani, now a New York state congressman, had sought to focus his campaign on a core message of affordability, but said his opponents in recent days showed that “Islamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement.”
His speech also came a day after his arch-rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, laughed after radio host Sid Rosenberg said Mamdani “would be rooting for him” if the Sept. 11 attacks happened again.
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who lost to Mr. Mamdani in June’s Democratic primary, agreed with Mr. Rosenberg and said, “That’s a different issue.”
Basim Elkala, executive director of the Muslim advocacy group CAIR Action, called Cuomo’s appearance on the radio show “despicable, dangerous and disqualifying.”
“Mr. Cuomo crossed a moral line by agreeing with a racist radio host who suggested that Muslim elected officials would once again ‘cheer’ on 9/11,” Elcala said.
“Mr. Cuomo’s stance on this kind of hate speech on this kind of platform shows exactly the kind of leader he is, someone who would rather incite fear than unite people,” he said.
Speaking on Friday, Mamdani said he also received “slander” from Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa on the debate stage “when I claimed I supported global jihad” and faced ads from a super political action committee that “suggested I was a terrorist and mocked the way I eat.”
She also recalled memories of her “aunt who stopped riding the subway after September 11th because she didn’t feel safe wearing the hijab,” and of an employee who had her garage “spray-painted with the word terrorist,” and that she was advised that “you don’t have to tell people” that you are Muslim if you want to win elections.
Top Democratic Party endorses Mamdani ahead of early voting
Early Friday morning, Mamdani received a long-awaited endorsement from Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives and representative of New York’s 8th Congressional District, which includes East Flatbush, Coney Island and Brownsville in Brooklyn.
Mamdani has received support from top Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, but the vocally pro-Palestinian candidate has struggled to gain support from other top New York Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Despite reluctance from some establishment figures within the Democratic Party, Mamdani won a landslide victory in the party’s primary election to select candidates for the general election in June.
Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who did not run in the primary in the face of corruption allegations, endorsed Mr. Cuomo this week after dropping out of the race, but Mr. Cuomo’s name will still appear on the ballot.
According to a recent poll released by AARP and Gotham Polling and Analytics, Mamdani has the support of 43.2% of voters, leading his opponent by a wide margin.
Mr. Cuomo was followed by 28.9% and Mr. Sliwa at 19.4%, but 8.4% said they were either undecided or preferred another candidate.
The same poll found that the cost of living was a key issue for nearly two-thirds of voters, with security and housing affordability also a concern.
