Tragic Details About NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani's road to mayor was wrought with a fair share of pushback. Stepping onto the scene after Eric Adams withdrew from the mayoral race, the young Uganda-born New Yorker was a breath of fresh air to the world of New York politics, and a bit of a controversial candidate with his democratic socialist agenda. From his mission to create free childcare to his efforts in making NYC affordable for all, many of the politician's viewpoints drew great attention from the press and public. 

His rise to fame and popularity put targets on the young politician's back, forcing him to come face to face with racism, xenophobia, death threats, and ridicule from some of the most powerful voices in American government. Through all this, Mamdani kept his head held high and called out the resentment he experienced with a hard stance against the racially charged hatred and political violence that was thrown his way. 

These moments of difficulty marred the beginning of Mamdani's political career. Though he's persevered through incredible opposition, worry, fear, and anguish made for a less than warm welcome for the elected official as he took on the role of New York City's mayor. 

Zohran Mamdani's controversial politics stirred up large-scale attacks on the young mayor. In the mix of criticism targeted toward Mamdani's politics, racism aimed at the Uganda-born politician exploded. As a Muslim man, many haters compared the mayor to the violent attackers of September 11, 2001, with some even theorizing that Mamdani would welcome future attacks on New York City.

The politician's status as a legal immigrant has also been the subject of racist attacks. Despite becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States in 2018, haters accused the New Yorker of not being a real American. In addition to outright false claims that he faked his way into becoming a citizen, some even called for the stripping of his citizenship because of their opposition to his democratic socialist politics. 

Mamdani condemned these attacks in a heartfelt speech about his hope as a mayoral candidate, saying, "I thought that if I could build a campaign of universality, I could define myself as the leader I aspire to be, one representing every New Yorker, no matter their skin color or religion, no matter where they were born" (via NBC News). He continued, "And I thought that if I behaved well enough or bit my tongue enough in the face of racist, baseless attacks ... it would allow me to be more than just my faith. I was wrong."

In addition to vitriolic hate, Zohran Mamdani received violent and horrifying death threats. When one series of threats led to an increase in security, the reality of the political violence became public. During June and July of Mamdani's campaign, the candidate was notified of a constant thread of violent messages being left at his New York office. 

The attacks allegedly included comments about the mayor being shot in the head if he didn't leave the city, threats against Mamdani's family, and demands that Mamdani watch his back while he's in America. Mamdani told CBS News that the threats were disheartening but more upsetting when they were directed at his loved ones. "I think they are most terrifying when they have less to do with you and more to do with people that you love. Because I made the decision to run, to become the next mayor of this city," he shared. "No one else made that decision."

Although the threats started in the summer of 2025, it wasn't until September that Jeremy Fistel, a Texas man, was arrested. Fistel was subsequently charged with terroristic threats toward an elected official, as — at the time — Mamdani was an assemblyman in the city of New York. Fistel pleaded not guilty to the 22 charges before being released on bail. 

Attacks on Zohran Mamdani's religion existed long before he entered the public eye. Growing up in New York, the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001 had a huge impact on the young mayor. His experience as a Muslim in New York City at the time differed from that of his peers. Addressing the rise of Islamophobia in 2025, Mamdani reflected on the pain he and his family faced following the attacks. 

"I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab," he shared out front of the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx in October 2025 (via 19th News). According to the American Journal of Public Health, Mamdani's family's experience was a shared experience of Muslims across America following 9/11. "Hate crimes against Muslims in the United States remain 5 times more common than before September 11, 2001," the publication reported in 2016.

After sharing the heartbreaking story of discrimination and hatred toward his family and his religion during his childhood, Mamdani faced more backlash for speaking publicly about his family's experiences. Haters soon claimed that Mamdani was actually playing the victim when revealing the religious-based attacks. 

Before his apparent 180 on his attitude toward Zohran Mamdani, President Donald Trump was an outspoken hater of the young mayor. He declared that Mamdani was a communist set out to destroy New York City, labeled Mamdani an illegal immigrant despite his naturalized citizenship, and encouraged an investigation into Mamdani's immigration status. The president wasn't the only one to make their distaste of the New York City mayor known. A series of elected officials also voiced their hatred toward Mamdani on social media. 

After a video was shared to X (formerly Twitter) that showed the mayor eating with his hands, Congressman Brandon Gill responded by writing, "Civilized people in America don't eat like this. If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World."

Representative Nancy Mace, known for her attention-seeking behavior, also shared a post on X, featuring an image of Mamdani in traditional South Asian cultural garb, writing above the picture, "After 9/11 we said 'Never Forget.' I think we sadly have forgotten." Representative Andy Ogles joined Mace in the racist attacks toward Mamdani. During the peak of Mamdani's office's increase in threats, Ogles posted to his X account, "He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings."