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Media Amnesia: Zohran Mamdani’s Extremism Forgotten as Pro-BDS Socialist Wins New York City Mayoral Race
Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, US, Nov. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
The clean-up has begun.
As votes rolled in and it became clear that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani had secured the big victory long predicted, the media whitewash was already underway.
Mamdani’s rise — from relative unknown to mayor of America’s largest city — is, politically speaking, extraordinary. He won more votes than any candidate in a New York City mayoral race in 50 years.
But it was also a campaign haunted by allegations of antisemitism, anti-Israel extremism, and sympathy for radical Islamist movements and chants like, “Globalize the intifada.” Those allegations were well-founded, which is precisely why the media — until now — felt obliged at least to mention them, if only to dismiss them as “smears.”
Now that he’s won, even that pretense of scrutiny is vanishing.
The Record the Media Are Erasing
These facts are not in dispute — and they have all been previously documented by HonestReporting and others:
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May 2021 – Pro-Palestinian rally, Manhattan:
Led BDS chants and attacked city officials who traveled to Israel.Aug 4–6, 2023 – DSA National Convention, Chicago:
“When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” (Video resurfaced Oct 2025)2023–2025 – Multiple posts and interviews:
Repeatedly labeled Israel an “apartheid” state and accused the US of “subsidizing genocide.”June 5, 2025 – Media interview:
Refused to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, saying instead that he supports “a state with equal rights for all” and opposes any “hierarchy of citizenship… on the basis of religion.”June 8, 2025 – Cornell Tech boycott call:
Urged a boycott over the university’s partnership with Israel’s Technion.June 2025 – NBC’s Meet the Press:
Refused to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” saying it’s “not language I use,” but stopping short of disavowing it.July 16, 2025 – Private meeting:
Said he wouldn’t use the phrase “globalize the intifada” going forward, but defended it as “a protest slogan against occupation.”Oct 1–2, 2025 – ABC’s The View:
Called the Gaza war a “genocide” to audience applause.Oct 27–28, 2025 – Debate fallout:
Told an emotional story about a hijab-wearing “aunt” who stopped riding the subway after 9/11 over “Islamophobia” fears — but discrepancies later emerged, forcing him to walk back the claim and clarify that he had actually been referring to a cousin.Nov 4, 2025 – MSNBC’s Morning Joe:
Declared, “I support BDS.”
The Whitewash in Real Time
Now that Mamdani has won, much of the media is pretending none of this ever happened.
What were once documented facts about his statements and positions are being rewritten as mere accusations by political opponents.
This is how media rehabilitation works: reframe the record, dilute the facts, and gaslight the public into thinking the extremism was never there.
Take CNN, which described Mamdani as having “reached out to New York’s Jewish community, which had been roiled by his criticisms of Israel’s government.”
Criticisms of Israel’s government?
Is claiming that Jews thousands of miles away are somehow responsible for police violence in New York — that “the boot of the NYPD is laced by the IDF” — merely a policy critique?
According to CNN, yes.
US Jews (& Israeli Jews) are entitled to & may have plenty of their own criticisms of Israel’s government.@CNN has completely missed the point re: Jewish concerns about Zohran Mamdani–a man who has a problem not with Israel’s government or leader but with its very existence. pic.twitter.com/dbdX1Dzp3S
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 5, 2025
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal insisted Mamdani “says Israel has a right to exist,” while the New York Times wrote that he simply “declined to say it should be a Jewish state.”
That is dishonest framing.
Mamdani has explicitly rejected the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state — which is what Israel is. To say you support Israel’s existence only if it stops being Jewish is not to affirm its existence at all.
It’s like declaring support for Japan’s right to exist — just not as a country run by Japanese people or speaking Japanese.
Zohran Mamdani clearly stated that he does not believe Israel has the right to exist as the Jewish state that it is, & instead should be a state with “equal rights.”
Newsflash: Israel already has equal rights for all. And the insinuation, as well as the targeting, of one… pic.twitter.com/ztA29X4cF9
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 5, 2025
Then there’s Rolling Stone, which bizarrely claimed Mamdani “hasn’t said or done anything antisemitic” and “did not call to ‘globalize the intifada.’”
Such media examples aren’t hard to find. They are everywhere now — each one sanding off the rough edges of Mamdani’s record.
The Image Laundering Has Begun
The mainstream press has shifted into image-rehabilitation mode, presenting Mamdani as a unifying progressive rather than a divisive ideologue.
This isn’t so much journalism as it is public relations for an extremist whose record is a matter of record.
Make no mistake: the same outlets now gaslighting Jewish readers about who Mamdani is are the ones already hinting that this “Muslim socialist mayor” could one day be president.
And for that to happen, his Jew-hating, pro-terror past must be scrubbed from memory.
Welcome to the memory-holing of Zohran Mamdani.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Iran and US Views on Sanctions Relief Differ, Iranian Official Tells Reuters
Iranian women walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, February 19, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran and the United States have differing views over sanctions relief in talks to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that new talks were planned in early March as fears of a military confrontation grow.
Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East, fueling fears of a wider war.
Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by US forces.
“The last round of talks showed that US ideas regarding the scope and mechanism of sanctions relief differ from Iran’s demands. Both sides need to reach a logical timetable for lifting sanctions,” the official said.
“This roadmap must be reasonable and based on mutual interests.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days, while US President Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.
READINESS TO COMPROMISE
While rejecting a US demand for “zero enrichment” – a major sticking point in past negotiations – Tehran has signaled its readiness to compromise on its nuclear work.
Washington views enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and wants its right to enrich uranium to be recognized.
Washington has also demanded that Iran relinquish its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU). The UN nuclear agency last year estimated that stockpile at more than 440 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step away from the 90% that is considered weapons grade.
The Iranian official said Tehran could seriously consider a combination of exporting part of its HEU stockpile, diluting the purity of its most highly enriched uranium and the establishment of a regional enrichment consortium in exchange for the recognition of Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment.”
“The negotiations continue and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists,” he said.
BENEFITS FOR BOTH SIDES
Iranian authorities have said that a diplomatic solution delivers economic benefits for both Tehran and Washington.
“Within the economic package under negotiation, the United States has also been offered opportunities for serious investment and tangible economic interests in Iran’s oil industry,” the official said.
However, he said Tehran will not hand over control of its oil and mineral resources.
“Ultimately, the US can be an economic partner for Iran, nothing more. American companies can always participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.”
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Mike Huckabee’s Comments to Tucker Carlson on Israel and Middle East Land Draw Condemnation in Region
Tucker Carlson speaks on first day of AmericaFest 2025 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: Charles-McClintock Wilson/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
Comments by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggesting that Israel had a biblical right to much of the Middle East drew condemnation over the weekend from countries across the region, who called his remarks “dangerous and inflammatory.”
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, has been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout his political career and a longtime defender of Jewish settlements in the West Bank – land which the Palestinians seek for a state.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson that was conducted on Wednesday in Israel and aired on Friday, the populist US talk show host asked Huckabee about Israel’s right to exist and about Jewish roots in the ancient land.
Citing the book of Genesis, Carlson asked whether the modern state of Israel had a right to the lands promised in the Bible by God to Abraham, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Nile, covering much of the Middle East. In response, Huckabee said:
“It would be fine if they took it all. But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today.”
Huckabee added: “We’re talking about this land that the state of Israel now lives in and wants to have peace in, they’re not trying to take over Jordan, they’re not trying to take over Syria, they’re not trying to take over Iraq or anywhere else. They want to protect their people.”
In response, a joint statement condemning Huckabee’s comments was issued by the Palestinians and countries in the Middle East and beyond, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan.
They said his comments were: “Dangerous and inflammatory remarks, which constitute a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and pose a grave threat to the security and stability of the region.”
A US Embassy spokesperson said Huckabee’s comments did not reflect any change in US policy and that his full remarks made clear that Israel has no desire to change its current boundaries.
Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the interview or the reaction from countries that signed the joint statement.
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Jack Hughes Makes History as 1st Jewish Male Athlete with Olympic ‘Golden Goal’
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Ice Hockey – Men’s Gold Medal Game – Canada vs United States – Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, Milan, Italy – February 22, 2026. Jack Hughes of United States scores their second goal in overtime to win gold. Photo: REUTERS/David W Cerny
i24 News – Jack Hughes made history on Sunday as the first hockey player widely recognized for both having a bar mitzvah and scoring an Olympic game-winning goal, leading the United States to its first men’s hockey gold medal since 1980.
The 24-year-old New Jersey Devils star from Orlando, Florida, scored early in sudden-death overtime to secure a 2-1 victory over Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Hughes finished a cross-ice pass from teammate Zach Werenski, who had wrestled the puck from Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon.
“This is all about our country right now,” Hughes said. “I love the USA. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.” Hughes also endured a high stick during the game, losing a couple of teeth but continuing to play.
The victory marked the first US win over Canada in a top-level men’s competition since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The win completed a US sweep of Olympic hockey gold, following the women’s 2-1 overtime victory against Canada on Thursday.
Hughes ended the tournament with three goals and three assists, contributing offensively even from a lower line. His older brother, Quinn Hughes, a Minnesota Wild defenseman, scored the US overtime winner against Sweden in the quarterfinals. Their parents, Jim and Ellen Hughes, were present for the celebrations.
Team USA also paid tribute to the late Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed in 2024 with his brother. Gaudreau’s jersey hung in the locker room throughout the tournament, and players carried it onto the ice after the medal ceremony. Two of Gaudreau’s children joined the team for commemorative photos.
Sunday’s match marked the third men’s Olympic gold medal game between the US and Canada, with Canada having won in 2002 and 2010. Hughes’ golden goal solidifies him as a historic figure in hockey, blending his Jewish heritage with Olympic triumph.