FILE – Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., testifies during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on her pending confirmation to be the United Nations Ambassador, on Capitol Hill, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) branded New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a “jihadist” and “raging antisemite” in a statement she addressed to a New York Times “hack.”
Stefanik released her statement on Mamdani following Thursday’s New York City mayoral debate between Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. She addressed it to Emma G. Fitzsimmons from The Times after she said she was contacted for comment on a story.
Stefanik wrote:
I call Zohran Mamdani a jihadist because he is. Zohran Mamdani is a raging antisemite. Mamdani is the definition of a jihadist as he supports Hamas terrorists which he did as recently as yesterday when he refused to call for Hamas terrorists to put down their arms – the same Hamas terrorist group that slaughtered civilians including New Yorkers on October 7, 2023.
The congresswoman is referring to Mamdani failing to directly say that Hamas should disarm in a Fox News interview earlier this week amid a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
“I believe that any future here in New York City is one that we have to make sure that’s affordable for all. And as it pertains to Israel and Palestine, that we need to ensure that there is peace, and that is the future that we fight for,” Mamdani told Fox’s Martha MacCallum.
“But you won’t say that Hamas should lay down their arms and give up leadership in Gaza?” she pushed.
“I don’t really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel beyond the question of justice and safety, and the fact that anything has to abide by international law. And that applies to Hamas, that applies to the Israeli military, applies to anyone you could ask me about,” Mamdani said.
Stefanik claimed Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, is a “communist” sent to “destroy” New York City.
“It’s why the New York State Democrat Party Chair refuses to support him,” she wrote. “It’s why multiple Democrat Members of Congress refuse to support him. It’s why Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have still not endorsed him. Because Zohran is a jihadist who will destroy New York.”
The post Rep. Elise Stefanik Brands Zohran Mamdani a ‘Jihadist’ in Statement to New York Times ‘Hack’ first appeared on Mediaite.
