Controversial Tweets by New York Mayoral Candidate Put Him Under Pressure and Sharp Criticism
July 7, 202542 ViewsRead Time: 2 minutes
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Old tweets by the socialist candidate for the position of New York mayor, Zehran Mamdani, have sparked wide controversy in American political and media circles, after being circulated again recently.
These tweets date back to 2015, when Mamdani was twenty-three years old, where he criticized the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in monitoring former Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, accusing the US authorities of pushing al-Awlaki towards extremism and terrorism.
It is worth mentioning that al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, was in direct contact with the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the US government considered him a major threat until he was killed in a drone strike in 2011 by order of President Barack Obama, in an operation that some described as exceptional as it targeted an American citizen without formal charges.
In his tweets, Mamdani questioned the transparency of the FBI's investigations into monitoring al-Awlaki, affirming that such monitoring may have been the reason for his turn to terrorism, sparking a wave of sharp criticism from families of 9/11 victims and counterterrorism officials who described his statements as insulting and unacceptable.
Former Congressman Peter King expressed his strong dismay, calling for Mamdani to be excluded from the mayoral race, while Jim McCarvill, retired lieutenant from the New York Fire Department and son-in-law of one of the attack victims, described Mamdani's statements as "frightening" and "offensive".
In a related context, Tom Von Essen, former fire commissioner during the events of September 11, mocked Mamdani's candidacy, considering that the city does not need a mayor who "blames the government for creating criminals".
This controversy comes at a time when New York is witnessing heated elections for the position of mayor, amid escalating criticism and strong political pressure on local government performance, especially in the areas of security and crime.
