New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts to the outpouring of hate he received after hosting his first iftar at New York City Hall. Mamdani was called an enemy within, and in response, New York City’s first Muslim mayor said politicians in Washington should show similar outrage when children go hungry. “When kids go hungry, Washington politicians get as angry as I do when I break bread with New Yorkers,” Mamdani wrote, responding to a post by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville: “The enemy is within the gates.”Mamdani hosted Eid, inviting community members, and was seen breaking his fast to sit on the floor, which became a meme for trolls comparing the photo to 9/11. New York Senator Chuck Schumer defended Mamdani and pointed to Islamophobia in Tuberville. “This is mindless hatred. American Muslims are police officers, doctors, nurses, teachers, bankers, bricklayers, mothers, fathers, neighbors, mayors and more. Islamophobic hatred like this is fundamentally un-American and we must confront and overcome it every time it rears its ugly head,” Schumer wrote. MAGA activist Laura Loomer also claimed that a guest at Mamdani’s iftar party gave the ISIS finger salute. “A Muslim who was invited by @ZohranKMamdani to the New York City Mayor’s Mansion for Ramadan Eid yesterday gave the ISIS one-finger salute inside Gracie Mansion. This comes after two ISIS terrorists dropped bombs on Americans in New York City this weekend,” Loomer posted.Prior to the iftar gathering, Mamdani had been criticized for hosting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and his family for a dinner to mark the first anniversary of Khalil’s arrest. “One year ago, Mahmoud was detained by federal agents while walking home through our city after an Iftar meal with his wife, Noor, and flown to Louisiana and then held in an ICE facility for several months. During that time, he was forced to miss the birth of his first child. All in an effort to exercise your First Amendment right to protest the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” Mamdani wrote. “Mahmood is a New Yorker and he belongs in New York City.”
