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Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s got some family baggage that’s raising eyebrows. His dad, Mahmood Mamdani, a big-shot Columbia prof, dropped a wild claim in a 2022 Asia Society panel, tying none other than Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler’s playbook for the Holocaust. Yeah, you read that right.
Zohran, the self-described socialist gunning for NYC’s top job, grew up with a silver spoon and a side of spicy political debates, courtesy of his parents, according to a New York Times profile. His mom’s an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, and his dad’s no slouch either, a Herbert Lehman professor of government at Columbia, with a stack of books to his name.
But it’s Papa Mamdani’s 2022 comments that are stirring the pot.
"America was the genesis of what we call settler-colonialism," Mahmood declared at the Asia Society, pointing to the Civil War. "With the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln generalized the solution of reservations, they herded American Indians into separate territories. For the Nazis, this was the inspiration. Hitler realized two things: one, that genocide is doable. It is possible to do genocide, that's what Hitler realized. Second thing Hitler realized, is that you don't have to have a common citizenship."
Mahmood didn’t stop there. He claimed Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws, yes, the racist, anti-Semitic ones, were “patterned after American laws.” He even argued there’s no daylight between “nationalism and colonialism” and that the Allies in WWII were basically on the same wavelength as the Nazis. "The Nazi political project was shared by the Allies, and that political project was to turn Germany into a ‘pure’ nation. A ‘pure’ nation rid of its minorities," he said. "When the Allies defeated the Nazis and went into Eastern Europe, they began to create ‘pure’ nations. To ethnically cleanse Eastern Europe of Germans – move them back into Germany. One crime doesn't wipe out another."
"America was the genesis of what we call settler-colonialism," Mahmood declared at the Asia Society, pointing to the Civil War. "With the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln generalized the solution of reservations, they herded American Indians into separate territories. For the Nazis, this was the inspiration. Hitler realized two things: one, that genocide is doable. It is possible to do genocide, that's what Hitler realized. Second thing Hitler realized, is that you don't have to have a common citizenship."
Mahmood didn’t stop there. He claimed Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws, yes, the racist, anti-Semitic ones, were “patterned after American laws.” He even argued there’s no daylight between “nationalism and colonialism” and that the Allies in WWII were basically on the same wavelength as the Nazis. "The Nazi political project was shared by the Allies, and that political project was to turn Germany into a ‘pure’ nation. A ‘pure’ nation rid of its minorities," he said. "When the Allies defeated the Nazis and went into Eastern Europe, they began to create ‘pure’ nations. To ethnically cleanse Eastern Europe of Germans – move them back into Germany. One crime doesn't wipe out another."
But the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and critics are digging up Zohran’s own radical gems. At a 2021 Young Democratic Socialists of America [aka Communists] conference, he rallied the crowd to go all-in, no compromises, on stuff like "seizing the means of production." Classic.
Then there’s a Gravel Institute video where he pushes for turning housing into a public free-for-all, ditching luxury condos for communal laundries and food co-ops. "If we want to end the housing crisis, the solution has to be moving toward the full de-commodification of housing," he preached.
But back to Dad.
But back to Dad.
Mahmood’s got more head-scratchers. In an interview about his book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, he argued the term "suicide bomber" is bunk because they’re just like "soldier[s] whose objective is to kill." And as per the Washington Free Beacon, he’s even called Israel "the logical conclusion of Nazism."
Bold move, professor. You make Columbia University proud.
The Mamdani clan’s no stranger to the spotlight. But as Zohran surges in the mayoral race, these fiery family takes are fueling questions about what kind of leader he’d be. In all probability, a horrible, leftist anti-Semitic mayor.
The Mamdani clan’s no stranger to the spotlight. But as Zohran surges in the mayoral race, these fiery family takes are fueling questions about what kind of leader he’d be. In all probability, a horrible, leftist anti-Semitic mayor.
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