What does Zahran Mamdani’s candidacy for mayor reveal about being a Muslim in America?
In the fall of 2008, Colin Powell, former Secretary of State under George W. Bush, defected from the Republican Party and endorsed Democratic nominee for President Barack Obama. It has been a brutal summer of electoral warfare. Rumors spread that Obama was Muslim, and became an important aspect of media coverage of his campaign. A group working with his opponent, John McCain, contacted people in swing states, sowing doubts about Obama’s religious background, and asking them how they would vote if they knew the Democrat had the support of Hamas. McCain’s spokesman defended the calls, but when one voter later said in a town hall that she did not trust Obama, who was an “Arab,” McCain shook his head. “No, ma’am,” he said. Obama was a “respected family man.” Suggesting that an “Arab” could not possess these qualities was toxic enough, but it was Powell who addressed the unspoken. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he acknowledged that Obama “is not a Muslim. He is a Christian. He has always been a Christian.” However, Powell continued what if it was Obama He was Muslim? “Is there anything wrong with being a Muslim in this country?”
Seventeen years later, that question has become central to the race for mayor of New York City, where Zahran Mamdani, a thirty-four-year-old democratic socialist and Muslim, has made strong progress since winning the Democratic primary last summer. There have been plenty of legitimate attacks on Mamdani’s candidacy, pointing to his inexperience and questioning how he will deliver on his promises to make the city accessible to everyone. However, in recent weeks, many of the criticisms have been tinged with a specifically anti-Muslim tone. Eli Cohanim, former deputy special envoy to combat anti-Semitism in the first Trump administration, posted a photo of the burning Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, writing: “Never forget.. vote for Andrew Cuomo and save our city”; New York mail Newspaper headlines linking Mamdani to terrorism, such as “Weapons to destroy Hamas.Cuomo himself, the former New York governor, who is running against Mamdani as an independent, recently made comments about his opponent that received widespread attention. In an interview with conservative broadcaster Sid Rosenberg, Cuomo asked if anyone could “imagine Mamdani in the seat,” if there were another 9/11. When Rosenberg replied, “He’ll be cheering,” Cuomo laughed and added, “That’s another problem.”
The comment echoed a similar ad made during another much-watched campaign. In November 2015, Donald Trump, then running for president, claimed he saw “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11. A month later, he called for a plan to prevent Muslims from entering the country in an attempt to maintain its security. After he took office, in January 2017, this policy went into effect, and hundreds of New Yorkers descended on JFK Airport to protest. In a show of solidarity, Governor Cuomo declared, “As a New Yorker, I am a Muslim.” It was a politically useful sentiment at the time.
Trump’s story was a lie, but it gave voice to long-standing doubts about so-called dual loyalty. After September 11, authorities arrested Muslim men across the country and detained them without charge — in some cases for years — or deported them for minor visa violations. To avoid such fates, many Muslim families have fled the United States, leaving their neighbors and friends behind. The New York City Police Department created a Demographics Unit, whose officers and confidential informants combed Muslim neighborhoods and hid in libraries, mosques, and restaurants in search of terrorist threats, making local communities fear they were always being watched. The program ran for years, and after being challenged in court, was eventually disbanded.