The race for New York City mayor took an unexpected turn this week as questions about foreign influence and family ties surfaced in the heated contest. At the center of the debate is Zohran Mamdani, the Queens Assemblyman and Democratic candidate whose family’s connections to the Qatari royal family have drawn intense scrutiny. The controversy erupted after Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, made a series of pointed remarks on Fox News Channel’s “Life, Liberty & Levin” on October 12, 2025.
Schweizer didn’t mince words when he described the relationship between the Mamdani family and Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family. “The Mamdani family is joined at the hip with the royal family of Qatar, the Al Thani family,” he asserted, according to Fox News. He went on to claim that the Qatari royals have provided millions of dollars to fund the Mamdani family’s projects. “They have sent them millions of dollars, they have funded their projects,” Schweizer continued, highlighting the financial link as a cause for concern in the context of the mayoral race.
But Schweizer’s comments didn’t stop at financial entanglements. He drew a stark historical parallel, calling the current election “a dark echo of the 9/11 terrorist attack.” That’s a strong claim, and it begs the question: what’s the connection? Schweizer explained his reasoning by revisiting the events of the late 1990s, specifically the actions of the Qatari royal family regarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.
“Back in 1996, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was granted sanctuary by this very royal family,” Schweizer told viewers. He detailed how Mohammed was given a no-show job at Qatar’s Ministry of Water, where, according to Schweizer, “he started planning the 9/11 attacks.” The FBI, aware of Mohammed’s involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and other terrorist activities, sought his extradition. But, as Schweizer recounted, “the royal family… hid him and helped him to escape. They tipped him off.”
Schweizer referenced former FBI Director Louis Freeh’s statements from that era. “I would encourage a lot of people to go back and look at the statements that Louis Freeh made back in the day, saying, had they gotten Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that would have prevented future terrorist attacks like 9/11,” Schweizer said. This historical backdrop, he argued, is why the Qatari royal family’s current ties to the Mamdani campaign matter so much.
To many, the suggestion of a direct line from past actions of a foreign royal family to the present-day New York mayoral race might sound far-fetched. But Schweizer doubled down, arguing that the relationship is both financial and political. “Millions of dollars bankrolling the Mamdani family,” he repeated, before turning to the present day. “This same family is now on social media around the world. And what are they doing, Mark? They’re pushing Mamdani’s campaign. They’re pushing his policy positions. They’re pushing his poll numbers. They’re encouraging people to vote for him, to financially support him. So they’re cheerleading for him.”
These explosive claims have fueled a brewing debate in New York political circles. Critics of Mamdani have seized on the allegations, arguing that foreign money and influence have no place in American elections—especially not in a city as globally significant as New York. They point to Schweizer’s assertions as evidence that the Mamdani campaign is compromised by outside interests, and they warn of the dangers of foreign entanglements in municipal governance.
Supporters of Mamdani, however, have pushed back. They argue that the attacks are politically motivated and amount to guilt by association. They note that Mamdani himself has not been accused of wrongdoing or illegal activity, and that there’s a long history of diaspora families maintaining ties—financial and otherwise—with relatives and business partners abroad. Some have even suggested that the focus on Mamdani’s background is a distraction from the real issues facing New Yorkers: housing, public safety, and economic opportunity.
Yet the controversy refuses to die down. The fact that the Qatari royal family, according to Schweizer, is actively promoting Mamdani’s campaign on social media has raised eyebrows. In today’s digital age, where online narratives can shape real-world outcomes, the suggestion that a foreign monarchy is “cheerleading” for a candidate in America’s largest city has struck a nerve. Political consultants and watchdog groups have called for greater transparency in campaign finance and social media influence, warning that the lines between legitimate diaspora support and undue foreign interference can be blurry.
It’s not the first time questions of foreign influence have surfaced in American politics, of course. The last decade has seen repeated debates over the role of overseas actors in everything from presidential elections to local school board races. What makes the Mamdani case unusual is the specificity of the claims: not just foreign support, but support from a royal family with a controversial history, and not just generic backing, but alleged multimillion-dollar financial connections and coordinated online advocacy.
For many New Yorkers, the story has prompted uncomfortable questions about the nature of political alliances in a globalized city. New York is famously cosmopolitan, home to communities from every corner of the globe. It’s not unusual for candidates to draw support from international networks—sometimes for reasons as simple as shared heritage or business ties. But when those connections intersect with the legacies of world-changing events like 9/11, the stakes feel higher, and the scrutiny grows more intense.
As the mayoral race enters its final weeks, both sides are digging in. Mamdani’s campaign, for its part, has emphasized his record on local issues and his commitment to serving the people of New York. Allies have dismissed Schweizer’s remarks as “baseless smears” designed to distract voters from the real challenges facing the city. Meanwhile, opponents are calling for investigations and demanding that Mamdani disclose the full extent of his family’s financial relationships.
Where this all leads remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the intersection of money, politics, and international relationships is as fraught as ever. As New Yorkers prepare to cast their ballots, they’ll have to weigh not just policies and personalities, but the tangled web of connections that, for better or worse, come with life in a city that’s always been a crossroads of the world.
In the end, the debate over the Mamdani family’s ties to the Qatari royal family is as much about the future of New York as it is about the past. It’s a reminder that, in a global city, the lines between local and international are never as clear as they seem.
