The emotional speech against Islamophobia from the NYC mayoral race frontrunner comes a day before early voting begins.<\/p>\n
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gave an emotional speech addressing \u201cracist, baseless attacks\u201d from his opponents, a day before early voting begins in the race he is projected to win.<\/p>\n
Speaking outside a mosque in the Bronx on Friday, Mamdani criticised his opponents for bringing \u201chatred to the forefront\u201d, noting that their Islamophobia not only affects him as the Democratic nominee for mayor but also close to one million Muslims<\/a> living in New York.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cTo be Muslim in New York is to expect indignity, but indignity does not make us distinct. There are many New Yorkers who face it. It is the tolerance of that indignity that does,\u201d Mamdani said in his speech, less than two weeks ahead of the November 4 general election.<\/p>\n Mamdani, who is currently a member of the New York State Assembly, said that while he had tried to focus his election campaign on his core message of affordability<\/a>, his opponents in recent days had shown that \u201cIslamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement\u201d.<\/p>\n His speech also came a day after his top opponent, former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo<\/a>, laughed after radio host Sid Rosenberg said that Mamdani \u201cwould be cheering\u201d if another September 11 attack occurred.<\/p>\n Cuomo, who is a member of the Democratic Party but lost the Democratic primary election to Mamdani in June, responded in agreement with Rosenberg: \u201cThat\u2019s another problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Basim Elkarra, the executive director of Muslim advocacy group CAIR Action, described Cuomo\u2019s appearance on the radio programme as \u201cdespicable, dangerous, and disqualifying\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBy agreeing with a racist radio host who suggested a Muslim elected official would \u2018cheer\u2019 another 9\/11, Cuomo has crossed a moral line,\u201d Elkarra said.<\/p>\n \u201cCuomo\u2019s willingness to engage in this kind of hate speech, on this kind of platform, shows exactly the kind of leader he is: someone who would rather stoke fear than bring people together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Speaking on Friday, Mamdani said he had also been \u201cslandered\u201d by Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa on the debate stage, \u201cwhen he claimed that I support global jihad\u201d, and faced advertisements from Super Political Action Committees<\/a> that \u201cimply that I am a terrorist, or mock the way I eat\u201d.<\/p>\n He also shared his memories of his \u201caunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab\u201d, and a staff member who had the \u201cword terrorist spray painted\u201d on their garage, as well as the advice he had received that he \u201cdid not have to tell people\u201d he was Muslim, if he wanted to win elections.<\/p>\n Top Democrat endorses Mamdani on eve of early voting<\/p>\n Earlier on Friday, Mamdani received a long-anticipated endorsement from Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democratic Party in the US House of Representatives and the representative of New York\u2019s eighth congressional district, which includes the Brooklyn neighbourhoods of East Flatbush, Coney Island and Brownsville.<\/p>\n While Mamdani has earned endorsements from top Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul<\/a>, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and independent Senator Bernie Sanders<\/a>, the vocally pro-Palestinian candidate has struggled to win over other top New York Democrats, such as Senator Chuck Schumer.<\/p>\n Despite the reluctance of some establishment figures within the Democratic Party, Mamdani resoundingly won<\/a> the party\u2019s primary election to choose its candidate for the general election back in June.<\/p>\n