A newly unearthed video has ignited controversy around New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani, showing the Muslim socialist anti-Semite comparing the NYPD to the Israeli military in a speech laced with conspiracy rhetoric.
“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” declared Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, during his address at the 2023 Democratic Socialists of America national convention, where he served as keynote speaker.
Watch the video here.
The footage captures Mamdani speaking passionately about connecting international struggles to local grievances. “We are in a country where those connections abound. Especially in New York City, you have so many opportunities to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there is tied to capitalist interests over here,” he said.
He went on to insist that people will only care about world issues if they’re tied to their everyday realities. “For anyone to care about these issues, we have to make them connected,” he said, before repeating his inflammatory claim. “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” He concluded, “We have to make it materially connected to their lives.”
The statements came during a panel discussion titled “Socialist Internationalism: The Solution to the Crisis of Capitalism,” where Mamdani outlined his vision of tying “hyperlocal” politics to broader global movements.
Since launching his mayoral campaign, Mamdani has been trying to downplay his record of radical statements and mend fences with the NYPD. He now insists that his views have evolved since 2020, when he labeled the department “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety” and backed calls to “defund the police.”
In a bid to project moderation, Mamdani has even pledged that, if elected, he would retain current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch — a move seen by many as a calculated attempt to reassure law enforcement supporters.
Yet, police leaders remain unconvinced. Veteran officers have dismissed his newfound friendliness toward the force as opportunistic. Among them is Ray Kelly, the longest-serving NYPD commissioner, who made headlines this week for endorsing ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo instead of Mamdani.
As Mamdani’s remarks continue to circulate, critics say the footage exposes his true ideology — one that paints New York’s police officers as villains trained by Israel’s army, and raises serious questions about what kind of leadership he would bring to City Hall.
The voters in his district that elected him to the State Assembly are hateful racists themselves. Queens voters are dumber than dumb.