“I was speaking about Zehra fuhi, my father\u2019s cousin, who passed away a few years ago,” Mamdani told reporters on Monday, using the term “fuhi” which the New York Post reported means paternal aunt in Hindi and Urdu, after social media users had raised questions about the veracity of his story.<\/p>\n
“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” Mamdani, fighting back tears,\u00a0told a crowd<\/a> on Oct. 24 while outlining his concerns about Islamophobia and suggesting that criticisms of his anti-Israel positions are rooted in a disdain toward his Muslim faith.<\/p>\n Shortly after that clip hit the internet, a wave of criticism hit from conservatives and internet sleuths who poked holes in the story and suggested Mamdani had embellished it, pointing to his one direct biological aunt, Dr. Masuma Mamdani, listing on her LinkedIn that she worked and presumably lived in Tanzania from January 2000 to December 2003. Additionally, publicly available photos of Masuma Mamdani don\u2019t show her wearing a hijab.<\/p>\n DESANTIS PREDICTS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF MAMDANI WINS NYC ELECTION: ‘GREAT’ FOR GOP, ‘BAD FOR NEW YORK CITY’<\/a><\/p>\n New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025.\u00a0 (Fox News Digital\/Deirdre Heavey)<\/p>\n The controversy reached the White House in the form of a post on X<\/a> from Vice President JD Vance who expressed skepticism about the story.<\/p>\n “According to Zohran the real victim of 9\/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks,” the vice president wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n INSIDE THE MAMDANI MACHINE: SOROS CASH, SOCIALISTS AND RADICAL IMAMS ENGINEERED ZOHRAN MAMDANI\u2019S PATH TO POWER<\/a><\/p>\n New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during an interview on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” at Fox News on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in New York City.\u00a0 (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n Mamdani’s father Mahmood, who Zohran Mamdani says is the cousin of the deceased aunt, has faced criticism during the campaign for his past controversial statements as a professor at Columbia University, including a claim that Hitler was inspired by Abraham Lincoln<\/a>, which resurfaced on social media in recent days.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mahmood Mamdani also sits on the advisory council of an anti-Israel organization that supports boycotts and sanctions of Israel, and routinely accuses the Israeli government of committing “genocide”, Fox News Digital reported this summer.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Zohran](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/zohran-mamdani-upper-east-side.png\")
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