USA NYC Mayoral Hopeful Under Fire for Past Comments Defending Al Qaeda Cleric

[Social Media]

 

Title: NYC Mayoral Hopeful Under Fire for Past Comments Defending Al Qaeda Cleric

 

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing fierce backlash over newly unearthed tweets in which he appeared to suggest that the FBI radicalized Anwar al-Awlaki, the notorious American-born al Qaeda figure who was ultimately killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2011.

 

Al-Awlaki, a New Mexico native with Yemeni heritage, rose to prominence as an imam at mosques in San Diego and Virginia. U.S. officials later revealed that he had contact with three of the 9/11 hijackers. Following the attacks, the FBI placed him under surveillance and discovered that the conservative cleric — who publicly preached traditional Muslim values — was secretly visiting prostitutes in hotel rooms.

 

 

By 2011, then-President Barack Obama authorized a drone strike that killed al-Awlaki in Yemen — a move considered unprecedented because al-Awlaki was an American citizen who had never been formally charged. Obama justified the killing by citing al-Awlaki’s operational role in terror plots, including the 2009 attempted Christmas Day bombing and a failed 2010 effort to blow up U.S. cargo planes.

 

“He directed the failed attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day in 2009. He directed the failed attempt to blow up US cargo planes in 2010,” Obama said at the time. “And he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda.”

 

Despite this, Mamdani, then 23 years old, posted a series of tweets in 2015 suggesting that the FBI’s surveillance and handling of al-Awlaki may have driven him into the arms of al Qaeda. Reacting to a New York Times article detailing the cleric’s surveillance and sexual behavior, Mamdani questioned the agency’s role.

 

“Why no proper interrogation of what it means for FBI to have conducted extensive surv. into Awlaki’s private life?” he wrote. “How could #Awlaki have ever trusted@FBI to not release surveillance esp. if he continued to critique [the] state? Why no further discussion of how #Awlaki’s knowledge of surv. eventually led him to #alqaeda? Or what that says about [the] efficacy of surv?”

 

Retired FDNY Lt. Jim McCaffrey, whose brother-in-law Chief Orio Palmer died in the South Tower collapse on 9/11, called Mamdani’s comments “very offensive to 9/11 victims and their families.”

 

“It’s offensive to all New Yorkers and all Americans,” McCaffrey said. “It’s an absolutely ridiculous assertion on Mamdani’s part. The FBI agents were doing their job. This guy al-Awlaki had connections to al Qaeda. But [Mamdani’s] blaming the FBI?”

 

McCaffrey added that it was “eye-opening” and “frightening” that Mamdani, now a 33-year-old Queens assemblyman, is considered a frontrunner in the mayoral race.

 

Former city fire commissioner Tom Von Essen echoed that concern. “Just what NYC needs — another mayor who blames the government for creating criminals. We tried this with Bill de Blasio. It can not end well,” he said.

 

Former Congressman Peter King was even more direct: “Mamdani is making excuses and rationalizing al-Awlaki joining al Qaeda. He’s trying to blame the US for him becoming a terrorist. It’s an absolute disgrace. It should disqualify Mamdani from being mayor of New York City. Al-Awlaki was an evil man. It was a great victory to eliminate him from the face of the Earth.”

 

Al-Awlaki’s influence stretched far and wide. U.S. intelligence officials have linked his teachings to roughly one-quarter of all Islamist terrorism-related convictions in America between 2007 and his death.

 

Mamdani, who gained prominence with slick social media content and defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, has been dogged by other controversies. A Jewish advocacy group, StopAntisemitism, condemned him for sharing a video mocking Hanukkah and “cosplaying Jews.” The clip, shared on Mamdani’s X account, featured two men in wigs dancing behind a menorah while playing with dreidels and celebrating with Punjabi-style music.

Resurfaced video of Zohran Mamdani shows the NYC Mayoral candidate mocking Jews during Hannukah.

pic.twitter.com/zUzQa6dj4Y

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 5, 2025

 

In another instance, Mamdani appeared in a 2021 video leading chants in support of the BDS movement, urging a boycott of Israel during a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan.

 

Mamdani’s campaign declined to comment when contacted about his 2015 tweets.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from NYP  2025-07-08

 

 

[koolkarl]

There is some proof of the nature of the beast.  There must be a lot of muslims living in NYC now.

[Chomper Higgot]

16 minutes ago, koolkarl said:

There is some proof of the nature of the beast.  There must be a lot of muslims living in NYC now.

Mamdani can’t win election solely on the ‘Muslim vote’.

 

He can win election be addressing the everyday concerns of New Yorkers.

 

[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, Social Media said:

he appeared to suggest that the FBI radicalized Anwar al-Awlaki, the notorious American-born al Qaeda figure who was ultimately killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2011.

 

10 hours ago, Social Media said:

another mayor who blames the government for creating criminals.

Now Americans live in an era where it appears that criminals and insurrectionists are protected by the DOJ, and given pardons for their prosecuted crimes. 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, koolkarl said:

There is some proof of the nature of the beast.  There must be a lot of muslims living in NYC now.

He's a mish mash deliberately misleading on his ethnicity 

 

NY Times rushed out story on Mamdani claiming to be black on Columbia application over fears it would be scooped by Christopher Rufo: report

The Gray Lady is facing a storm of criticism following its decision to publish the story based on hacked Columbia documents that revealed Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, identified as both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his 2009 college application.

Mamdani, who is of Indian descent and was born in Uganda, confirmed the details to the Times and said he checked those boxes because the application did not reflect the complexity of his background.

https://nypost.com/2025/07/07/media/ny-times-rushed-out-story-on-mamdani-claiming-to-be-black-on-columbia-application-over-fears-it-would-be-scooped-by-christopher-rufo-report/

 

Zohran Mamdani may be a lightweight in his own right, but as mayor, he’d bring an entire extremist movement along with him to City Hall, with dire consequences for the city.

Mamdani can hem and haw all he likes, but he’s the face of a truly radical movement, the Democratic Socialists of America — which boasts of being truly anti-capitalist and indeed looking to “seize the means of production,” which is as Marxist as anyone could ask.

https://nypost.com/2025/07/06/opinion/zohran-mamdanis-other-baggage-bringing-a-socialist-army-to-city-hall/

[Purdey]

Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist by his own admission and I don't see anyone confusing him with a Marxist. Most Americans cannot differentiate a socialist from a communist or Marxist. It just looks like a dog whistle for the lower educated.

[connda]

Maybe the US will hit Mamdani with a Hellfire missile in the name of "national security." 

 

[Will B Good]

 

 

Well if the FBI and the CIA have this evidence and they are looking after it, there's a good chance they'll lose it before push comes to shove.

[dinsdale]

A rich kid who wants state owned grocery stores, free public transport and defunding of the police. What could go wrong.