Conservatives have reacted with fury after Zohran Mamdani’s projected victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, with some warning that electing the Muslim assemblyman would lead to “another 9/11.” Mamdani, 33, defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who conceded on Tuesday night despite early results showing Mamdani with 4.55 percent of first-choice votes to Cuomo’s 36.3 percent.
Mamdani, born in Uganda to an Indian filmmaker father and a Columbia University professor mother, ran on a progressive platform including rent freezes, free childcare, and free buses. He has described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare” and criticised Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide, leading to accusations of antisemitism after using the phrase “globalize the Intifada.”
Right-wing figures, including Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk, have invoked the 9/11 attacks to attack Mamdani. Loomer wrote on social media: “NYC is about to see 9/11 2.0,” while Kirk said: “24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City.”
The remarks sparked bipartisan backlash. Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov called Kirk’s post “gross and Islamophobic,” and conservative columnist Sohrab Ahmari criticised the “dimwitted f*ckery.” Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik also labelled Mamdani a “terrorist sympathiser.”
