Following Zohran Mamdani’s unexpected victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary this week, advocacy groups have reported a sharp increase in anti-Muslim hate speech online, including death threats and posts likening his candidacy to the September 11 attacks.
CAIR Action, an affiliate of the Council on American-Islamic Relations that monitors hate incidents, recorded at least 127 violent, hate-related posts referencing Mamdani or his campaign on the day after polls closed, a surge roughly five times higher than the daily average tracked earlier in June. Overall, around 6,200 online posts containing Islamophobic slurs or hostility were documented during that period.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old state legislator and self-described democratic socialist, declared victory on Tuesday after his opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded. Born in Uganda to Indian parents, Mamdani could become New York City’s first Muslim and Indian American mayor if he secures victory in November’s general election.
CAIR Action’s executive director Basim Elkarra urged political leaders from all parties to “unequivocally condemn Islamophobia,” stressing that such rhetoric endangers communities. The organization’s monitoring system combines data scraping, public submissions, and notifications from law enforcement agencies. About 62% of the anti-Muslim posts targeting Mamdani were posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Prominent figures close to Republican President Donald Trump, including his son Donald Trump Jr., contributed to the online hostility. Trump Jr. posted on X that “New York City has fallen,” sharing a message suggesting voters had chosen “another 9/11.” Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also shared an AI-generated image of the Statue of Liberty wearing a burqa.
Critics note that President Trump’s administration has faced accusations of anti-Muslim bias, notably for its first-term travel bans targeting several Muslim-majority countries and for more recent efforts to deport pro-Palestinian students. The White House declined to comment, but officials have rejected claims of religious discrimination. Trump and his allies have framed their opposition to Mamdani as resistance to what they label “radical left” politics.
The New York City Police Department had earlier announced its hate crime unit was investigating threats made against Mamdani. According to Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, the online attacks resemble those previously directed at other Muslim and South Asian political figures, including Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Republicans have accused Mamdani of antisemitism due to his outspoken pro-Palestinian stance and criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza following Hamas’s October 2023 attack. Mamdani has consistently condemned antisemitism and enjoys support from Jewish political figures such as New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who also competed in the Democratic primary.
Rights groups emphasize that both Islamophobia and antisemitism have escalated since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict, with tragic incidents in the U.S. including the shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington, D.C., and the fatal stabbing of a Muslim child in Illinois. Mamdani and other pro-Palestinian advocates, including some Jewish organizations, argue that criticism of Israeli policies should not be equated with antisemitism.
