The White House is claiming that they will prevent nuclear war by bombing a Middle Eastern nation and Republicans are posting some of the most Islamophobic shit you’ve ever seen in your life. No, it’s not 2003.
Following Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s decisive victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, most New Yorkers are rejoicing over the sound walloping he dished out to former governor and accused sex pest Andrew Cuomo. Outside of the city, right-wing lawmakers and influencers have seized on Mamdani’s Muslim identity and responded to his win with a degree of Islamophobic hysteria not directed towards New York since the so-called “Ground-Zero Mosque” caused nuclear meltdowns on Fox News in 2010.
“New York City has fallen,” Donald Trump Jr., the eldest child of President Donald Trump, wrote on Wednesday, quoting a post from another user claiming they were “old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted an AI-generated image depicting the Statue of Liberty wearing a black burka with the caption: “This hits hard.”
Greene’s fellow congressional stunt artist Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) posted a photo of Mamdani dressed in a kurta — a garment worn by men in Southeast Asia — while attending an Eid service at the Parkchester Islamic Center in the Bronx. “After 9/11 we said ‘Never Forget.’ I think we sadly have forgotten,” Mace wrote.
Turning Point USA founder and far-right influencer Charlie Kirk wrote on social media late Tuesday night that “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.” In another post, Kirk added that it was “time for the west to wake up,” quoting another post claiming that Mamdani’s election signified the fist step in achieving the “end goal” of implementing “Sharia Law” throughout the United States.
The Babylon Bee — the right’s shoddy attempt at a satirical news outlet — posted an article titled, “Mamdani Vows To Knock Down World Trade Center To Build More Affordable Housing.”
The text of the article included references to conspiracies about the 2001 World Trade Center attack. In one fake quote, an imaginary New Yorker said that “that tower would be almost impossible to take down, unless the support structure were to be melted or something,” a reference to conspiratorial claims about the north and south towers. The satirical article also stated that “would also be removing all synagogues in the city to make way for new government-operated grocery stores,” a reference to the contention that Mamdani is antisemitic because he supports Palestinians in Gaza.
Laura Loomer, a virulent Islamophobe and pro-Trump influencer, delivered a multi-tweet screed over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday. In one post, she suggested that the Trump administration could “literally bar Zohran from running for office and criminally charge him.” Loomer baselessly claimed that Mamdani was funded by the Muslim Brotherhood, and suggested that his adherence to Shi’a Islam made him ideologically similar to the “Ayatollahs in Iran.”
In another post, Loomer claimed that a congratulatory post from former President Bill Clinton to Mamdani was evidence that “The Democrat Party is undeniably pro-Islamic terror.”
Pro-Trump influencer Benny Johnson posted a photo of smoke billowing from the two towers of the World Trade Center the day of the attacks, writing, “NYC in 2001: We will never forget! NYC in 2025: *elects Muslim jihadist*.” Election conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza described Mamdani on Tuesday as the “Muslim Obama. Don’t Say I didn’t warn you.” While it’s nice of D’Souza to tacitly admit that nutty right-wing conspiracy theories accusing former President Barack — Hussein!!! — Obama of being a secret Muslim are bullshit, the Islamophobic pile-on against Mamdani has resulted in very real concerns for his and his wife’s safety.
In early June, a man was arrested after attempting to get physical with Mamdani at a campaign event, and biting the hand of one of his volunteers. Days before the election, the New York Police Department investigated death threats against Mamdani, including messages from one man who called the candidate a “terrorist,” who was “not welcome in New York or America.” The voicemail threatened to rig Mamdani’s car to explode upon ignition, a plot that was foiled from the outset because the now Democratic nominee doesn’t own his own vehicle.
“I get threats on my life, on the people that I love,” an emotional Mamdani told reporters around the time of the threats. “I try not to talk about it because the function of racism, as Toni Morrison says, is distraction.”
