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President Donald Trump blasted New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani after the New York State assemblyman from Queens refused to condemn the term “globalize the intifada.”
“Frankly, I’ve heard he’s a total nut job,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning. “I think the people in New York are crazy because they go this route. I think they’re crazy. We will have a communist in the for the first time, really a pure, true communist. He wants to operate the grocery stores. The department stores. What about the people that are there? I think it’s crazy.”
‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE STIRS TENSIONS ON NYC CAMPAIGN TRAIL AS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT RAGES
Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, rolls up his sleeves during a campaign event in New York on June 23, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg)
Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim who won the Democratic Party’s primary for New York City mayor in June and identifies as a Democratic socialist.
On Sunday, Mamdani said he didn’t want to condemn the term “globalize the intifada,” a phrase used to back Palestinian resistance against Israel, because he didn’t want to “police language” in an interview with NBC News.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, and then to Florida on July 1, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)
“I think he’s terrible. He’s a communist,” Trump said Tuesday. “The last thing we need is a communist. I said, there will never be socialism in the United States. So even the communists, I think it’s bad news. And I think you’re going to have a lot of fun with him, watching him, because he has to break through this building to get his money. And don’t worry, he’s not going to run away with anything.”
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Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani takes the stage at his primary election party June 25, 2025 in New York. (Heather Khalifa/The Associated Press)
Mamdani’s comments have attracted scrutiny in recent days following a June interview with the conservative, anti-Trump news and opinion site the Bulwark, and during a Sunday interview with NBC News host Kristen Welker. Although Mamdani has said that he doesn’t personally use the term “globalize the intifada,” he doesn’t believe it is his role as potential mayor to come out with a position on the phrase.
“My concern is, to start to walk down the line of language and making clear what language I believe is permissible or impermissible, takes me into a place similar to that of the president, who is looking to do those very kinds of things, putting people in jail for writing an op-ed, putting them in jail for protesting,” Mamdani said. “Ultimately, it is not language that I use. It is language I understand there are concerns about, and what I will do is showcase my vision for the city through my words and my actions.”
Mamdami has received criticism from members of his own party for refusing to come out with a stance on the phrase, including from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Jeffries said in an interview with ABC News Sunday that the term was not “acceptable phrasing.”
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“He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward,” Jeffries said.
Even so, Mamdani said in an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” prior to the primary race that Israel has the right to exist.
“Yes,” Mamdani said. “Like all nations, I believe it has the right to exist and a responsibility also to uphold international law.”
Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
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