The final weeks of New York City’s mayoral race have erupted into a fierce national controversy, pitting questions of identity, Islamophobia, and political loyalty at the heart of America’s most-watched local election. At the center of the storm are Vice President JD Vance and Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner vying to become the city’s first Muslim mayor. Their escalating war of words—amplified by partisan surrogates, social media, and cable news—has ignited heated debates about what it means to be an American in the post-9/11 era, and just how far politicians are willing to go to score points in a divided electorate.
The controversy began on October 24, 2025, when Mamdani delivered an emotional speech outside a Bronx mosque, surrounded by Muslim faith leaders and supporters. In his ten-minute address, he recounted the lasting trauma and discrimination faced by Muslim New Yorkers in the wake of the September 11 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,” Mamdani said, his voice thick with emotion. He went on to describe how he, and so many others, had been taught to keep their faith private as a defense against prejudice. “These are lessons that so many Muslim New Yorkers have been taught. And over these last few days, these lessons have become the closing messages of Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Eric Adams.”
Within hours, Vice President JD Vance seized on Mamdani’s remarks, posting a mocking response on X (formerly Twitter): “According to Zohran, the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks.” The post quickly went viral, sparking outrage among Mamdani’s supporters and drawing a wave of criticism from across the political spectrum. According to The Times of Israel, Vance’s comment came as Mamdani was already facing a barrage of attacks from former Governor Andrew Cuomo and other critics, who accused him of “playing the victim” and politicizing the memory of 9/11.
The backlash to Vance’s post was swift. Mehdi Hasan, a prominent journalist and commentator, condemned the vice president’s remarks, writing, “Imagine being married to a Brown woman and having mixed-race kids and then publicly mocking other Brown people as they talk publicly and emotionally about their experience of racism. Vance is just a bad person.” Hasan’s comment pointed to the irony of Vance’s stance, given that his wife, Usha Vance, is an accomplished attorney of Indian descent and a practicing Hindu.
But the controversy didn’t end there. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, jumped into the fray, targeting Hasan’s defense of Mamdani. “JD Vance’s wife isn’t a Muslim,” she wrote on X. “If she was, he never would have been Vice President because MAGA isn’t going to ever support a Muslim being in the White House. Do you think Hindus and Muslims are the same? Usha Vance is an accomplished Hindu American. Our problem isn’t with brown people. It’s with Islam.” Loomer’s comments, which drew sharp criticism for their overt religious discrimination, further inflamed an already volatile debate.
Earlier in the campaign, Loomer had told Hasan to “go back to the Islamic country” his parents came from—a statement Hasan corrected, noting, “India is where my parents were born and it is not an ‘Islamic country.’ You have the knowledge, intellect, and IQ of a very small (and angry) child.” The exchange, reported by NDTV, underscored the racial and religious tensions simmering just below the surface of the mayoral race.
For his part, Mamdani has tried to keep the focus on the lived experiences of Muslim New Yorkers. In an interview on MSNBC, he called Vance’s comments “inappropriate,” adding, “This is all the Republican Party has to offer. Cheap jokes about Islamophobia so as to not have to recognize what people are living through, attempts to pit peoples’ humanity against each other.” He has repeatedly emphasized his sorrow for the victims of the September 11 attacks and attended the annual memorial service this year. “The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated the same as any other New Yorker. And yet, for too long, we have been told to ask for less than that and to be satisfied with whatever little we receive. No more,” Mamdani said in a video shared widely on social media.
Yet, Mamdani’s campaign has not been without its own controversies. Critics, especially from the right, have seized on his past activism and associations. According to The New York Times, Vance and other Republicans criticized Mamdani for meeting with Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj, who was named as a potential co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (though never charged). Mamdani has also faced questions about his support for Palestinian causes and his statements regarding Hamas. After initially declining to call for Hamas’s disarmament, he later clarified, “of course” the group should disarm, and condemned the October 7 attacks as a “horrific war crime.”
The tone of the mayoral race has grown increasingly tense, with other political figures like Andrew Cuomo and Representative Elise Stefanik weighing in. Cuomo, running as an independent, appeared to laugh along with a radio host’s suggestion that Mamdani would “be cheering” another 9/11 attack—a moment he later addressed as problematic. Stefanik, a Republican and Trump ally, called Mamdani a “jihadist” on Fox News for not urging Hamas to disarm immediately, though Mamdani clarified his position during a subsequent debate.
Meanwhile, outside groups have attempted to sway the race’s outcome. Ellie Cohanim, a former U.S. envoy to combat antisemitism, posted a graphic image of the 9/11 attacks on social media, urging New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo and “save our city.” Democrats condemned the post as “cruel” and an attempt to politicize tragedy.
Amid all the vitriol, the stakes of the election remain high. The race has sharply divided New York’s Jewish community, with some leaders decrying Mamdani as a threat to their safety, while others have endorsed him and mobilized support. As The Times of Israel notes, Mamdani’s campaign has forced a reckoning over the city’s identity and the place of Muslims in public life. Early voting is already underway, and the outcome on November 4 could mark a historic turning point for the nation’s largest city.
In a campaign marked by deeply personal attacks and passionate defenses, the voices of New Yorkers—Muslim, Jewish, and otherwise—are demanding to be heard. The result will not only determine the city’s next mayor, but also send a powerful message about tolerance, belonging, and the enduring struggle to define what it means to be an American.
