Mamdani and Colbert.
Photo: CBS via Getty Images
Turns out there could’ve been more discourse around Zohran Mamdani’s appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Before the mayoral candidate went onstage for the June 24 episode, Late Show producers reportedly asked if he’d like to do a “thumbs-up, thumbs-down” segment. Prompts included “Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: Hamas” and “Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: a Palestinian state,” Mamdani and those who were in the room told The New Yorker. Needless to say, it was a pass.
“I just couldn’t believe what was happening,” Mamdani recalled. “That a genocide could be distilled into a late-night game.” Mamdani adviser Zara Rahim reportedly told the Late Show team, “You have the first Muslim candidate for mayor in the history of New York. You don’t want to ask him a question about that?” That same day, Colbert received a letter from a group of “prominent Jewish figures,” including Elisha Wiesel, son of Night writer Elie Wiesel. According to The New Yorker, they all asked the show to “grill” Mamdani about his views on Israel.
During Mamdani’s appearance alongside former candidate Brad Lander, Colbert asked Mamdani if he believes Israel has a right to exist — a question that repeatedly frustrated Mamdani supporters throughout the campaign but allowed the candidate to express a more thoughtful answer than thumbs-up or -down. “Yes. Like all nations, I believe it has a right to exist,” he said. “And a responsibility, also, to uphold international law.”
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