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During a radio interview Thursday, New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand appeared to suggest that Zohran Mamdani had condoned “global jihad.” Her office tells Rolling Stone she “misspoke,” as she responded to a caller who provided a lengthy list of claims against Mamdani, who won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday.
Gillibrand appeared Thursday on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, a local call-in radio show. A caller named Gabe dialed into the studio on Thursday to ask Gillibrand about “the threats facing the Jewish community from Zohran Mamdani.”
Gillibrand probably should have stopped the caller right there — she could have said there is no evidence that Mamdani poses any threat to the Jewish community. To the contrary, the Muslim state assemblymember spoke often throughout his primary campaign about the threat of rising antisemitism and his desire to be a mayor for all New Yorkers. He was endorsed by many Jewish leaders, including the highest-ranking Jewish official in New York, Comptroller Brad Lander.
But Gillibrand didn’t do that, and the caller, Gabe, went on: “There was a bill that I was reading about that unfortunately, he wants to target synagogues and Jewish institutions which donate to nonprofits which are medical institutions like United Hatzalah and Magan Davod David Adam, which is like the Jewish Red Cross.”
Gabe continued: “How do we make sure that Jewish institutions are protected from his plans to punish and fine our institutions which fundraise the medical non-profits, which do work both here in the United States and in Israel and other countries in the world? And also, how can we hold Mr. Mamdani accountable for his glorifying association of Hamas and other terror bombings of the Intifada in 1990s, where over 1,000 Jewish Israelis were killed, to his revisionist Holocaust knowledge, to the Warsaw ghetto uprising where Jews were mass exterminated and faced threats. He compared when Jews were killed to when Jews fought back against Nazis. It’s quite despicable, I’m sorry.”
The show’s host, beloved New York icon Brian Lehrer, immediately broke in with a disclaimer: “There’s a lot in there, senator, some of which may be inaccurate. So I don’t know, I can’t fact check everything in real time,” he said.
Lehrer went on: “But do you know any of that to be inaccurate or accurate, including the original premise that he would somehow target synagogues, if they were contributing to groups like Hatsala Ambulance Services in a way that he could hurt the synagogues? I just don’t want to give out information that’s false, but I also don’t want to shrink from information that’s true.”
Disregarding Lehrer’s warning, Gillibrand seemed to co-sign the misinformation the caller was spreading — and added her own blatant lie on top. “The caller is exactly the New York constituents that I’ve spoken to that are alarmed,” Gillibrand said. “They are alarmed by past public statements. They are alarmed by past positions — particularly references to global jihad.”
Lehrer was soon forced to clarify, live on air, “On Mamdani, I just feel compelled to say, we can find no evidence that he has supported Hamas or supported violent jihad.” He then asked Sen. Gillibrand: “Can you?”
The senator said, “Again Brian, I don’t have all the data and information, and I’ve never sat down with Mr. Mamdani. So I’ve asked to have that meeting.”
After her radio appearance, Rolling Stone reached out to Gillibrand’s office to point us to any statements in which Mamdani has endorsed “global jihad.”
“Senator Gillibrand misspoke in that instance as she sought to address the caller’s assertions. As she noted subsequently throughout the interview, her concern was the refusal to denounce ‘globalize the intifada’ rhetoric,” Gillibrand’s spokesman Evan Lukaske said in a statement. Lukaske added, “She also highlighted that Mr. Mamdani assured her he would protect Jews and all residents of New York City, if elected.”
A spokesperson for Mamdani’s campaign declined to comment for this story.
The caller, in claiming Mamdani had targeted Jewish institutions, was presumably referring to Assembly bill A6943A, also known as the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act,” which was introduced in 2023. Mamdani was a sponsor of the bill, which sought to prevent tax-exempt nonprofits “from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.” Israeli settler violence, particularly in the occupied West Bank, has increased in recent years, and a number of people have been injured and killed — including multiple Americans — as tensions have risen in the area. Over a nine-month period in 2023, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs found that settlers and Israeli forces killed 189 Palestinians and wounded 8,192 more in the West Bank. “Funding war crimes is not a charitable purpose,” Mamdani said, referring to the bill in 2024, adding that many of the charities in question were “openly fundraising for that very activity.”
Gillibrand has not been covering herself in glory recently. Once best known as a fierce and outspoken advocate for survivors of sexual assault and harassment, Gillibrand was among the number of Democratic lawmakers who called on Andrew Cuomo to resign after at least 13 women accused the former governor of sexual misconduct. But when Cuomo jumped into the mayoral race earlier this year, Gillibrand had little to say about it. “It’s up to New York voters, it’s not up to me,” she replied when asked about Cuomo’s decision to jump into the race. “He has a lot of talent as an executive, he’s been a strong governor, but he has made mistakes… Serious mistakes.”
One woman who was targeted by Cuomo after speaking out about his behavior told Rolling Stone what a bitter disappointment it was to hear Gillibrand, whom she says had called her personally to convey her support after she came forward.
Later in the show, Lehrer asked Gillibrand to explain her decision. “Why so soft on Andrew Cuomo?” Lehrer said. “An equal treatment of women has been a core issue for you. A number of our callers and texters want a version of that question answered.”
Gillibrand answered: “It’s very simple. When multiple allegations came out about Andrew Cuomo, I think it was eight or nine, I called on him to resign… That was my view at the time because people asked how do you think they can continue to govern with these allegations? …The question being asked today is what’s my opinion about someone after they’ve resigned, after they’ve taken the penalty that I called on them to take? …And my answer to that is everyone gets to decide in this election who they want to vote for.”
She added: “It’s up to New Yorkers. It is not up to me.”
