WASHINGTON (TNND) — Comedian Pete Davidson said that he doesn’t think New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has “Staten Island heart” during an interview with Variety.
In a video posted on Variety’s YouTube page on Wednesday, Davidson played a game called “Staten Island or Not Staten Island.”
Davidson is from Staten Island and is the son of Scott Matthew Davidson, a New York City firefighter who died in the line of duty during the September 11 terrorist attacks.
During the Variety interview, was asked if Mamdani was “Staten Island.”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I don’t think he’s from Staten Island. “I don’t know if he has Staten Island’s heart.”
He said he doesn’t have a problem with Mamdani but says he doesn’t think he is Staten Island at all. He added that Staten Island is the only red place in New York.
“It’s violently red,” he said. “I try to explain it because you know…most of my family is on the red side. It’s not like ‘storm the capital’ vibe. It’s not like a racist, misogynistic sort of thing. It’s just…like it’s 1985 over there. You are not a real Staten Island politician unless you have a secret family and know one mobster. I would not trust you to run Staten Island.”
The video of Pete’s statement was posted on the social media platform, X and he got some backlash for his remarks.
“It is absolutely racist,” Socialist News Media wrote in response to the Variety post.