Bill Maher was having none of lefty Rep. Ro Khanna\u2019s attempt to paint New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a unifier-in-chief following his speech at the Knicks\u2019 championship parade \u2014 as he blasted the socialist for being \u201cpals\u201d with terrorists.<\/p>\n
The exchange on Friday night\u2019s episode of \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher\u201d began with the host asking the California Democrat if he considers Mamdani \u201ca great one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher\u201d host quickly shut down California Rep. Ro Khanna\u2019s gushing over Zohran Mamdani as a unifier-in-chief. Real Time with Bill Maher \/ YouTube<\/p>\n
\u201cI do, I mean, did you see his Knicks speech?\u201d Khanna asked the longtime HBO talk show host, who shot back that Hizzoner\u2019s rousing, eight-minute remarks outside City Hall Thursday were \u201cnot the issue that most concerned\u201d him from that day.<\/p>\n
Hours later, Mamdani branded the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its pro-Israel supporters \u201cmonsters\u201d at a Brooklyn campaign rally<\/a>, prompting outrage from the Jewish community that the Muslim mayor was \u201cinciting violence\u201d against Jews<\/a>.<\/p>\n Khanna attempted to portray Mamdani as a unifier, citing his speech during the Knicks ticker tape parade outside City Hall as an example. Real Time with Bill Maher \/ YouTube<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s worth a watch, because the speech was not just about the Knicks \u2014 first of all he, like, recites every Knicks player \u2014 I mean I couldn\u2019t do that about the 49ers,\u201d Khanna said before Maher cut him off.<\/p>\n \u201cWho gives a s\u2013t about the Knicks? He\u2019s the mayor of New York,\u201d Maher pushed back.<\/p>\n \u201cWell yeah, but he talks about how it\u2019s actually bringing people together, Trump voters, Mamdani voters, how it\u2019s overcoming the odds, and he took a speech that was just about celebrating the championship and he made something bigger about it,\u201d Khanna attempted to continue.<\/p>\n An unimpressed Maher then unleashed a torrent of sharp criticism against both Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji.<\/p>\n Just hours after Mamdani appeared with the NBA champ Knicks, he was at a Brooklyn campaign rally where he called the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its pro-Israel supporters \u201cmonsters\u201d GC Images<\/p>\n \u201cWell it doesn\u2019t make me forget that his wife loved [the] Oct. 7 attack on Israel and that he pals around with terrorists,\u201d Maher raged, referring to Duwaji liking a February 2024 Instagram post<\/a> by a pro-Palestinian influencer claiming Hamas\u2019 rapes of Israelis during the terror attack were a \u201cmass hoax.\u201d<\/p>\n