From extremist to victim: How The New York Times whitewashed Zohran Mamdani

The NYT reached for its age-old trick: the token “Jewish organization” to provide cover.

By Channa Rifkin, HonestReporting

Zohran Mamdani is no fringe activist – he’s the frontrunner in New York City’s mayoral race. And as Election Day nears, The New York Times seems determined to convince readers that he’s the victim, not the ideologue he’s long shown himself to be.

Key Takeaways:

– New York Democratic Socialist and mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani has been known to express anti-Israel sentiment in his public interviews and past records, which creates a dangerous precedent for New York Jews.

– The New York Times keeps publishing imbalanced reports of Mamdani’s narrative regarding his claims of Islamophobia.

– The NYT piece is in response to a Mamdani presser, where the candidate cited an “aunt” who was too scared to ride the subway in a hijab after 9/11, but conflicting reports have emerged regarding the integrity of his anecdote.

The candidate and his record

Born in Uganda and raised in post-apartheid South Africa, Mamdani comes from an outspokenly anti-Israel household. His father, Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, has repeatedly called for Israel’s dismantling and took part in the 2024 campus encampments. His mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, publicly boycotts Israel and promotes the “apartheid state” narrative.

Mamdani himself has echoed the same rhetoric for years. A proud ally of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, he has described Zionism as “racism” and “intifada” as a “non-violent struggle” – historical revisionism that denies the reality of more than a thousand Israelis murdered during the First and Second Intifadas.

As his campaign gained traction, Mamdani tried to soften his image. Out were the open endorsements of BDS and calls to “globalize the intifada.” In their place: rehearsed “clarifications” and half-hearted nods to coexistence. When pressed on whether Israel has a right to exist, Mamdani now says, “as a state that follows international law” – a formulation that conspicuously avoids acknowledging Israel’s legitimacy as the Jewish state.

It’s not an evolution; it’s a strategy. He knows he needs Jewish voters – and that his record makes them wary.

The New York Times runs interference

Over the weekend, Mamdani held a press conference outside the Islamic Cultural Center in Manhattan, accusing opponents Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa of “Islamophobic attacks.” The next day, The New York Times ran Jeffery C. Mays’ sympathetic write-up under the headline: “Mamdani Says Rivals Are Pushing Hate as Mayor’s Race Enters Last Stretch.”

The piece presents Mamdani as a victim of xenophobia and post-9/11 “hate,” citing his story about a hijab-wearing “aunt” who was too afraid to take the subway after the 2001 Al-Qaeda terror attacks. Yet, as of now, there’s no verification of who that relative is or whether the account is factual. (One woman publicly identified as his aunt wasn’t living in New York at the time – and doesn’t appear to wear a hijab.)

This unverified anecdote became the emotional centerpiece of the Times‘ story. What conspicuously failed to make the cut, however, was Mamdani’s long-documented refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” – a rallying cry to replicate violent uprisings against Jews worldwide. When Andrew Cuomo accused him of fostering antisemitism that leaves New York’s Jews afraid to wear yarmulkes or Stars of David, the Times quoted the charge – but carefully edited out the reason behind it.

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Early voting’s begun in NYC – and @nytimes is working overtime to cast @ZohranKMamdani as the target of hate.

Its latest piece has everything: his claim that the real victims of 9/11 weren’t the 3,000 murdered – but Muslims.

Let’s unpack this journalistic trainwreck. pic.twitter.com/zqAhngw2Ly

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 27, 2025

That omission isn’t accidental. Mays’ piece reads like campaign copy: every criticism rebranded as “Islamophobia,” every documented statement re-framed as misunderstanding. There’s no mention of Mamdani’s alignment with groups that glorified Hamas even on October 7 or of his repeated denials of Israel’s legitimacy.

Meanwhile, the NYT reached for its age-old trick: the token “Jewish organization” to provide cover. In this case, it’s J Street – described as a “liberal, pro-Israel advocacy group.” In reality, J Street has endorsed candidates who back BDS and once gave Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a platform at its national conference. Presenting J Street as a mainstream “pro-Israel” organization is downright misleading.

Why it matters

The New York Times has every right to highlight anti-Muslim hatred – real prejudice should always be called out. But whitewashing a politician’s record of excusing terror and vilifying Jews doesn’t fight hate; it feeds it.

By omitting Mamdani’s extremist affiliations, misrepresenting his past statements, and sanitizing his political allies, The New York Times didn’t just miss context – it manufactured a narrative.

It’s one where antisemitic rhetoric becomes “misunderstood activism,” where calls for violence are “passionate slogans,” and where the media’s role is not to question power, but to protect it.

Bottom line

As Mamdani edges closer to City Hall, voters deserve real journalism.

The New York Times owes its readers the truth about who Zohran Mamdani is – a politician who built his career on demonizing both Israel and America, praising movements that call the U.S. an imperial oppressor while labeling Israel a colonial occupier, and now hides it all behind performative victimhood.

J StreetNew York TimesZohran Mamdani