Kirsten Gillibrand Apologizes To Zohran Mamdani Over Anti-Muslim Comments

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) apologized to New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Monday after facing swift backlash for Islamophobic comments she recently made in a radio interview about her fellow New York Democrat.

The senator spoke over the phone with the state assemblymember and “apologized for mischaracterizing Mamdani’s record and for her tone in the interview,” according to a readout of the conversation that Gillibrand’s office first provided to Politico on Tuesday.

Last Thursday, Gillibrand appeared on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” and responded to a caller’s unfounded claims that Mamdani, who is Muslim, is a threat to Jewish safety. The senator went on an angry tirade and, despite Lehrer’s repeated fact-checks, falsely accused Mamdani of using and supporting the phrases “global jihad” and “globalize the intifada.”

Mamdani has repeatedly said that he personally does not use those terms, but that he will not outright condemn them because he does not want to use his position as mayor to suppress speech. Instead, he stressed his plans to protect all New Yorkers — including the Jewish community — by investing in programs that combat hate crimes.

Both “jihad” and “intifada” are Arabic terms that, over time, have come to be misunderstood in the West as synonymous with religious violence. The word “intifada” is most commonly used to describe decades-old Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. While “globalize the intifada” is often used in solidarity with Palestinians, some perceive it to suggest violence against the Jewish community.

Mamdani declined to specifically respond to Gillibrand’s initial accusations, but told MSNBC on Sunday that the Islamophobic comments he’s faced throughout his campaign have been “a language of darkness and a language of exclusion.” Most of the attacks on him have come from the right, though Gillibrand was not the only Democratto question Mamdani’s intentions.

Protesters demonstrated outside the senator’s office and called for her resignation, leading Gillibrand’s team to tell Rolling Stone that she “misspoke” in last week’s interview.

Asked about Gillibrand’s comments and the racism Mamdani has faced, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said on Monday that “no one should be subjected to any comments that slur their ethnicity [and] their religious beliefs.”

Mamdani’s campaign said that he accepted Gillibrand’s apology, with the readout adding that both “discussed the need to bring down the temperature around the issue” of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. The lawmakers agreed to meet in person soon in New York City to discuss how to collaborate on protecting all New Yorkers and increasing affordability.