Mamdani’s mayoral race was marred by unhinged Islamophobia. It’s not going away soon | Arwa Mahdawi

The racist abuse that Zohran Mamdani is still facing proves how normalized bigotry is. We need to keep calling it out

Pack your bags and flee, infidels: New York City has fallen to a cabal of socialist jihadists. With Zohran Mamdani to become the city's first Muslim mayor, many are celebrating the democratic socialist's historic win. Billionaires, Islamophobes and Republicans, however, are in the throes of hysteria. But what's new? The New York mayoral race has been marred by bigotry so unhinged it's almost impossible to parody.

Far-right activist and unofficial Trump adviser Laura Loomer posted on X, for example, that there will be another 9/11 in NYC" under Mamdani. New York City councilmember Vickie Paladino called the 34-year-old a known jihadist terrorist". Actor Debra Messing, meanwhile, has been having a Mamdani-induced meltdown on Instagram, posting story after story about how the puppy-eyed politician is a threat to civilization. She recently posted: In Judaism and Christianity, we are commanded to speak the truth. In Islam, they are commanded to lie if it means spreading Islam ... Now, take a look at Mamdani ... He's revealing their goal: mass conversion."