There “shouldn't be any question” that state assemblyman and current New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is “dangerous for the people of New York and for the Jewish community in particular,” Americans Against Antisemitism founder Dov Hikind said Sunday.
“He has trouble recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. It's very pathetic that any Jewish organization that has any self-respect would permit him or host them in any fashion … why this person is even permitted into an event, for me personally as a proud Jew, it's embarrassing,” Hikind told Newsmax.
Mamdani, a Muslim, pushed back against accusations that he refused to condemn the Holocaust in a video statement and doubled down on his use of the term “genocide” in describing Israel’s actions in Gaza. Mamdani has also claimed that his campaign has proposed the most out of all the campaigns to fight antisemitism, and said in the video that, as mayor, he would protect Jewish New Yorkers.
But Hikind said that Mamdani is “incredibly dangerous.”
“Mamdani is in a class by himself. He is danger personified. Look, he's not going to win the Democratic primary. What concerns me is the fact that he's doing so well. That is a dangerous indication,” Hikind said.
Hikind added that others, despite their Jewish faith, are still not fighting antisemitism.
“I blame people like AOC and Bernie Sanders and the rest of that clique. They have created an atmosphere of Jew hatred. The fact that Bernie Sanders is Jewish means zero. Let's get that clear. People use their Jewishness, and then they hate you,” Hikind said.
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