A top New York City Republican wants socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani deported.
Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, also the GOP minority whip, did not offer any specific grounds to do so initially, other than that Mamdani had been a U.S. citizen for less than 10 years. Her office later said Mamdani is “clearly not eligible” for deportation but “likely would have been removed” if he hadn’t been a citizen due to his alleged past ties to antisemitic organizations.
The statement came after Paladino’s social media post caused a considerable uproar.
“Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a US citizen for ten years — much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about. Deport,” she said on Wednesday night in response to a 2019 post from him expressing his support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Paladino’s office said it has been “inundated with threats and harassment” for the social media post and now has police stationed at the councilwoman’s home and her office for protection. Paladino said in a quote provided by her office that Mamdani’s candidacy and the threats against her necessitate the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, which she said should be heightened on college campuses “where these ideas metastasize.”
Despite the alleged threats, Paladino mocked Mamdani further, posting a shirt spoofing his mayoral merchandise saying “Deport Zohran from New York City” with the caption “New merch drop? Y/N”
Mamdani slammed Paladino for her “hateful rhetoric” in a statement.
“Since launching my campaign for mayor, I’ve been targeted with death threats, Islamophobic attacks against me and my family, and now, a sitting New York City councilmember is calling for my deportation,” he said.
“This isn’t just hateful rhetoric — it’s a reflection of what happens when Donald Trump’s authoritarian administration is allowed to shove New Yorkers into unmarked vehicles, tear our communities apart and spit in the face of the Constitution,” he added.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not condemn the attacks against Mamdani. He only insisted that they be toned down. Mamdani called Adams “our MAGA Mayor.”
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Mamdani also pressed his greatest rival in the city’s Democratic primary, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to condemn the incident, which he did.
“The Republican answer to everything, including the common cold, is deportation and it has to stop,” Cuomo told the New York Times.