On Tuesday (July 2), hours after being declared the official Democratic candidate to run for mayor of New York Metropolis, state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani was attacked by President Donald Trump who threatened to arrest him if he interfered with immigration officers if elected mayor. He additionally made the outlandish false declare that Mamdani is an unlawful immigrant, and acknowledged that his administration would “take a look at all the things.” Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, grew to become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.
Trump made the feedback in response to a query posed to him at an unrelated press convention held after he visited a migrant jail facility within the Everglades in Florida, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.” When requested what he would do if Mamdani adopted via on a previous pledge to not cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and their arrests if elected mayor, Trump replied, “Nicely, then we’ll must arrest him. Look, we don’t want a communist on this nation, but when we now have one, I’m going to be watching over him very fastidiously on behalf of the nation.”
Trump then added, “Lots of people are saying he’s right here illegally. We’re gonna take a look at all the things,” repeating a false declare which was first raised by Metropolis Councilmember Vickie Paladino final month in a publish on X, previously Twitter, by which she known as for Mamdani to be deported. That has been echoed by a number of right-wing figures throughout the previous few weeks, together with Tennessee Consultant Andy Ogles who additionally known as for the 33-year-old politician to be deported, utilizing Islamophobic slurs.
It’s a well-known line of assault for Trump to advertise far-right conspiracy theories about his political foes. He rose to prominence within the Republican Get together by parroting the lie that former President Barack Obama wasn’t legit as a result of he wasn’t born in the US forward of his 2016 presidential marketing campaign. He additionally brazenly questioned former Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ id as a Black girl and attacked GOP rival Nikki Haley within the 2024 Republican main, claiming she wasn’t eligible on account of her Indian heritage.
Mamdani issued a rebuttal in a publish on X, previously Twitter, afterward Tuesday, dismissing Trump’s assaults. “The president of the US simply threatened to have me arrested,” he wrote, including: “We is not going to settle for this intimidation.” He additionally famous Trump’s praising of Mayor Adams as “unsurprising,” writing that it “is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this President’s division, distraction, and hate.”
