{"id":149334,"date":"2026-03-02T00:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T00:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/149334\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T00:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T00:34:14","slug":"eric-adams-bruce-blakeman-slam-mamdanis-response-to-us-and-israels-iran-attack-words-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/149334\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Adams, Bruce Blakeman slam Mamdani’s response to US and Israel’s Iran attack: ‘Words matter’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted his socialist successor, Zohran Mamdani, for calling the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran \u201cillegal\u201d<\/a> while ignoring the brutal Islamist regime\u2019s long reign of terror.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be very clear. When the mayor of the largest city in America characterizes defensive action against the Iranian regime as \u2018illegal\u2019 without acknowledging decades of terror sponsorship, nuclear escalation, and human rights abuses, that is not leadership \u2014 that is dangerous oversimplification,\u201d Adams said Sunday in a statement to The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ex-mayor pointed to Iran\u2019s long history of funding and arming terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, supporting militia attacks against US forces, advancing nuclear and long-range missile capabilities and suppressing and killing thousands of peaceful protesters.<\/p>\n

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the US and Israeli attacks on Iran \u201cillegal.\u201d Paul Martinka for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWords matter,\u201d Adams chided. \u201cWhen you are mayor, your statements carry weight \u2014 not just in New York, but around the world. New Yorkers deserve leadership that understands the difference between escalation and deterrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 7,500 New Yorkers were born in Iran, according to city data<\/a>, many of whom \u201cfled that regime,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did not escape oppression to hear their mayor minimize the threat posed by the very government that terrorized their families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can advocate for diplomacy. You can call for restraint. But you cannot pretend that Iran\u2019s leadership is a passive actor. It has funded violence, destabilized allies, and suppressed its own citizens for decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mamdani on Saturday called the strikes in Iran \u2014 which took out longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei \u2014 an \u201cillegal war of aggression\u201d carried out by the US and Israel.<\/p>\n

Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams said Mamdani needs to choose his words more carefully. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s military strikes on Iran \u2014 carried out by the United States and Israel \u2014 mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.\u00a0 Americans do not want this,\u201d Mamdani posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s remarks also caught heat from Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who is looking to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the November elections.<\/p>\n

GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman attacked New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for failing to condemn Mamdani\u2019s comments. Dennis A. Clark for NY Post<\/p>\n

Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, claimed Mamdani supports Iran\u2019s brutal regime over America by opposing US strikes \u2014 and also took aim at Hochul for not condemning the mayor\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cZohran Mamdani showed his true loyalty, which is not to America and all peace-loving people but to a brutal terrorist regime, all while American military members are in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Blakeman said Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMamdani\u2019s bestie? Kathy Hochul\u2019s silence has been deafening. Two peas in a pod!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted his socialist successor, Zohran Mamdani, for calling the US and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[32674,1626,81,14670,60,57,9,24,55,54,56,58,82],"class_list":["post-149334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-airstrikes","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-eric-adams","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}