Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani refused to condemn the blatant Islamophobia circling new Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani during an interview with Piers Morgan this week.
Morgan put Giuliani in the hot seat by demanding whether he would have a “problem with a Muslim mayor of New York.” The disbarred lawyer’s response was telling.
Mamdani, 33, has turned heads for his strongly left-leaning policies and sparked tension between young progressives and members of the old guard. But following his shock win, his critics have retaliated by inciting Islamophobia in New York and nationwide. Giuliani went so far to call him an “enemy of America” during the Monday interview.
“Do I see him as an enemy of America?” Giuliani said. “You’re damn right I do. I think he’s gonna destroy New York City and I think this is a disaster time for New York City. This guy becomes mayor, this city is gone. People are leaving the city already. You can’t say things like the things he’s saying and not frighten the hell out of people. I mean, it has nothing to do with even 9/11. Had 9/11 not happened, he’d be an enemy of the city.”
Giuliani, who recently endorsed calls to investigate and arrest Mamdani, added that the mayoral hopeful was a “Muslim extremist.” He also said made a baseless accusation that Mamdani was a “major supporter of Hamas.”
Mamdani has in fact condemned the Hamas attacks as a “horrific war crime.”
Giuliani said would not have a problem with Mamdani “if he told me he would write out the portion of the Quran where Muhammad is exhorting the people to kill Christians and Jews and telling them if he doesn’t kill them they should get tribute from them.”
He added: “If he’s dominated by that sick, pathological philosophy which dominates not all Muslims, but more than a comfortable amount given all the killing that they’ve done, then I have a real problem with him. And he doesn’t sound like a moderate Muslim. He sounds like a Muslim extremist.”
Morgan then questioned Giuliani’s calls for an investigation: “You think there may need to be an investigation to see if Mamdani is an enemy of America. Is that the kind of language that is sensible?” he asked.
Giuliani replied, “I didn’t mean an investigation criminal, I meant for the purpose of voting. You and I should do the investigation as voters.”
Mamdani’s victory has provoked serious Islamophobic backlash in New York and nationwide, with right-wing influencers filming footage of Eid prayer celebrations and equating Mamdani’s win in the Democratic primaries to a Muslim “invasion.”
MAGA politicians have followed suit. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted an edited photo of the Statue of Liberty in a burqa, Congressman Randy Fine made the baseless accusation that Mamdani would install a “caliphate,” and Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) calling for Mamdani’s citizenship to be revoked and for him to be deported.
Congressman Brandon Gill posted a video of Mamdani eating biryani with his hand and urged him to “go back to the Third World” and that “civilized people” in the U.S. “don’t eat like this.”
Other conservative influencers have also made baseless, hateful, and discriminatory remarks, with Charlie Kirk calling Mamdani a “Muslim Maoist,” Laura Loomer calling him a “jihadist Muslim” and right-wing commentator Angie Wong telling CNN that people in New York are “concerned about their safety, living here with a Muslim mayor.”
Even Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who represents New York, was bashed for fueling bigotry against Mamdani by falsely accusing him of making “references to global jihad.” Her office later told outlets that she “misspoke.”
Mamdani supporters nationwide have called out the obvious spike in Islamophobic rhetoric following Mamdani’s win.
“We should all be disgusted by the flood of anti-Muslim remarks spewed in the aftermath of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the NYC mayoral primary – some blatant, others latent,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement to Al Jazeera. “Shame on the members of Congress who have engaged in such bigotry and anyone who doesn’t challenge it.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Zohran Mamdani for comment.
