President Trump said he doesn’t think Zohran Mamdani is a “jihadist” during the NYC mayor-elect’s White House visit Friday — a claim that has been repeated by his ally Rep. Elise Stefanik.
A reporter asked Trump if he believed Mamdani — who stood beside him behind the desk in the Oval Office — was a jihadist like Stefanik (R-NY) contends.
Trump dismissed Stefanik’s words as coming from her GOP gubernatorial bid.
“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” he said. “I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again.”
Trump said that Stefanik, who is running for governor against incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul, is “out there campaigning.”
“You say things sometimes in a campaign. She’s a very capable person, but you’d have to ask her about that,” Trump replied.
Stefanik stood by her assessment, tweeting an image of The Post’s Oct. 19 cover story on Mamdani’s association with radical Imam Siraj Wahhaj.
“We all want NYC to succeed. But we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one,” Stefanik wrote. “If he walks like a jihadist. If he talks like a jihadist. If he campaigns like a jihadist. If he supports jihadists, He’s a jihadist. And he’s [Hochul’s] jihadist.”
Mamdani, 34, is the city’s first Muslim mayor and has repeatedly threatened to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes if the Israeli prime minister visits New York City.
Trump, 79, said that he and Mamdani did not discuss Netanyahu during the visit, though Mamdani stood by his assessment of criminality on Israel’s part.
At one point in the stunningly warm 31-minute media availability, Mamdani dodged a question about his thoughts on Jewish New Yorkers feeling welcome and safe following the Wednesday night anti-Israel rally outside the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan.
Later, when pressed for an answer, Mamdani said: “I care very deeply about Jewish safety and I look forward to rooting out antisemitism across the five boroughs and protecting Jewish New Yorkers and every New Yorker who calls the city home.”
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Mamdani flattered Trump during his visit by noting he drew more votes from his hometown last year than in prior elections — with Trump gushing that the men shared more in common than might be expected.
The self-described democratic socialist partially reframed his own criticism of Israel as being about opposing “endless wars,” a term Trump frequently uses.
“I’ve spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide and I’ve spoken about our government funding it,” Mamdani said.
“I shared with the president in our meeting about the concern that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars to go to New Yorkers and their ability to afford basic dignity.”
“When I spoke to Trump voters on Hillside Avenue,” Mamdani added, “one of whom was a pharmacist that spoke about how President Trump’s father actually went to that pharmacy not far from Jamaica Estates, people were tired of seeing our tax dollars fund endless wars.”
