Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Zohran Mamdani will once again address the controversy stemming from his comments on the phrase “globalize the intifada” that he made during a podcast interview in June — and he’ll be inserting even more distance between himself and the slogan.
The New York Times reports that the Democratic mayoral nominee told a meeting of the city’s top CEOs and business leaders that he would “discourage” use of the phrase that some use in support of the Palestinian resistance and that others hear as a call of violence toward Jewish people. Mamdani’s shift, per the Daily News, came following a conversation between the candidate and a Jewish woman who said the phrase triggered memories of a bombing in Israel. According to Politico, Mamdani will publicly address his position on the slogan, but the campaign did not provide additional information on how or when that will occur.
His comments on the phrase have evolved over time.
The subject first arose during an interview with The Bulwark last month where Mamdani was asked about the phrase. The assemblymember said that he is “less comfortable” with the idea of banning certain words and that the mayor’s focus needs to be on keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe, calling antisemitism in the city “a real issue.”
In an interview with NBC News following his primary victory, Mamdani said that he doesn’t personally use the phrase but stopped short of explicitly condemning its usage. “That’s not language that I use,” he said. “The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.”
Several of Mamdani’s opponents criticized him for not condemning the phrase, with Andrew Cuomo making it a central part of his campaign. In response to the reports, the former governor accused Mamdani of attempting to “reinvent himself” for the general election, calling him a “fraud.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is set to meet with Mamdani this week and has yet to officially endorse him for mayor, has cited Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan as something he needs to rectify. “With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he said in an interview with ABC News last week.
Mamdani’s shift on the issue was just one of the ways he tried to build a bridge during his Tuesday meeting with numerous members of the city’s business community — which was set up to introduce the democratic socialist to some of his most prominent skeptics.
Kathy Wylde, the CEO of the Partnership for New York City, which organized the gathering, recounted the meeting in an interview with CNBC. She said she believed the leaders in the room came away thinking Mamdani “was the most impressive candidate they have seen in generations” but said that positive assessment didn’t change their impression that he is “totally inexperienced.”
“He said, ‘Well, I’d surround myself with good people and follow the Mike Bloomberg principle of letting them do their job.’ That was a good answer, but I don’t think it made up for the lack of experience,” she said.
Wylde continued, “This was strictly a ‘get to know the candidate’ conversation. I doubt it changed many minds, but I think it lowered the temperature.”
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