NYC Socialist Mamdani Walks Back Viral Islamophobia Story Amid Scrutiny

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist candidate for mayor of New York City, is under fire after a viral anecdote he told about post-9/11 Islamophobia collapsed under scrutiny forcing a public clarification and triggering renewed focus on his anti-Israel positions and radical family ties.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Mamdani clarified that the “aunt” he had previously claimed stopped riding the subway out of fear after 9/11 was, in fact, his father’s cousin, not a biological aunt.

“I was speaking about Zehra fuhi, my father’s cousin, who passed away a few years ago,” Mamdani said, using the Hindi and Urdu word fuhi, which roughly translates to paternal aunt.

The walk-back comes after internet sleuths and critics questioned Mamdani’s story, pointing out that his only publicly known biological aunt, Dr. Masuma Mamdani, lived and worked in Tanzania from 2000 to 2003 far from New York City and does not appear to wear a hijab, contrary to the imagery in Mamdani’s story.

Mamdani had made the emotional claim at an October 24 rally, tearing up as he accused critics of his anti-Israel views of being motivated by anti-Muslim bigotry.

“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” Mamdani told the crowd.

But the backlash was swift.

The controversy even reached the White House, where Vice President JD Vance slammed Mamdani’s rhetoric in a post on X:

“According to Zohran, the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks,” Vance wrote, highlighting the tone-deafness of Mamdani’s comments when compared to the nearly 3,000 Americans who were murdered in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Mamdani’s credibility problems are just the tip of the iceberg. His campaign has drawn heavy criticism for longstanding anti-Israel rhetoric, dating back to his college years and activism with anti-Zionist organizations.

Even more disturbing is the influence of his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia professor known for inflammatory and revisionist statements about terrorism and the West.

Among the elder Mamdani’s greatest hits:

• Claimed Adolf Hitler was “inspired by Abraham Lincoln”

• Defended suicide bombing as a “form of modern political violence”

• Argued that suicide bombers should be viewed as “soldiers”

• Sits on the advisory board of an anti-Israel group pushing boycotts and sanctions against the Jewish state

In his book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Mahmood Mamdani wrote:

“Suicide bombing needs to be understood… not stigmatized… we need to recognize the suicide bomber… as a category of soldier.”

This is the ideological upbringing of a man now asking to lead America’s largest city.

As criticism of his radical policies continues to mount, Mamdani is playing the victim, using his identity to deflect legitimate scrutiny. He recently posted a video viewed over 24 million times, declaring:

“The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated the same as any other New Yorker… No more hatred and bigotry in the shadows.”

But what Mamdani calls “bigotry,” many see as accountability for his policies, his associations, and his misleading narratives.

At a time when New Yorkers face skyrocketing crime, surging illegal immigration, and antisemitic violence, the idea that Mamdani’s priority is narrative control around Islamophobia while whitewashing terrorism and demonizing Israel is not just tone-deaf. It’s dangerous.

New York deserves better than a mayor who deflects, distorts, and divides.

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