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New York City’s democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, sparked online backlash this week after posting a photo showing him hosting one of the most prominent anti-Israel activists for dinner inside Gracie Mansion.
In a Monday night post on X, Mamdani released a photo from inside Gracie Mansion of his dinner with Khalil, who was facing deportation by the Trump administration, which labeled him a Hamas supporter.
“For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage,” Mamdani wrote in the post, which has been viewed almost three million times.
“Last night, as we marked the one-year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together,” Mamdani said. “Mahmoud is a New Yorker, and he belongs in New York City.”
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The post was quickly criticized by conservatives on social media.
“Posting a celebratory photo of an anti-Israel college protester who should be deported next to your ‘non public figure’ wife, who cheered the rape and murder of Jews on 10/7, the day after two radical Muslims threw pipe bombs on your sidewalk is a hell of a choice, Mamdani,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X.
Travis’s post referenced reports over the weekend that put Mamdani in hot water after it was revealed that his wife “liked” a variety of social media posts celebrating the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.
Mamdani responded to those reports by claiming his wife, who was pictured at the dinner smiling, is not a “public figure.”
“Nothing says that the NY City Mayor condemns Islamic terrorism quite like having dinner in Gracie Mansion with those who actively promote it,” Superintendent of the Kiryas Joel School District Joel M. Petlin posted on X.
“Just a casual dinner at Gracie with the lovely, private citizen, shy wifey whose fingers could not keep up with liking posts about the MASSACRE of Jews, and the RING LEADER & CHIEF ‘NEGOTIATOR’ of Columbia’s antisemitic encampments where Jewish students were harassed and intimidated, and where they literally glorified convicted terrorists,” New York City Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov posted on X.
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“This is what Zohran Mamdani stands for,” journalist Neria Kraus posted on X. “Mahmoud Khalil justified October 7th. ‘We couldn’t avoid such a moment,’ he viciously explained in an interview. Well, he was invited to the people’s house of NYC, Gracie Mansion, to a celebratory dinner. This is everything you need to know.”
“Syrian national Mahmoud Khalil, refers to Hamas as as ‘we’. Tonight, he dined with Zohran Mamdani in the mayor’s mansion,” UPenn student Eyal Yakoby posted on X. “It shouldn’t be a surprise that Islamists launched an IED at New Yorkers over the weekend—they feel empowered.”
“After getting exposed for liking posts about Oct. 7, why waste any time before hosting a man who justifies terrorism too?” Leo Terrell, civil rights attorney and chair of the Department of Justice Taskforce on Antisemitism and senior counsel at the Justice Department, posted on X. “These people are proud!”
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“In NYC, terrorist sympathizers have a seat at Zohran Mamdani’s table,” The Republican Jewish Coalition posted on X. “Mahmoud Khalil should be deported, not fluffed by the Mayor of the City of New York. Disgraceful.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.
Mamdani, who was widely criticized during his mayoral campaign for his comments and stances on Israel, was already under scrutiny over his reaction to an attack over the weekend involving two men accused of throwing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near Gracie Mansion that is being investigated as an “act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.”
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