Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has criticized Barack Obama, labeling him as “pretty evil” in a collection of resurfaced tweets. In these posts, he questioned Obama’s alignment with liberal values and accused him of dishonesty.
In one tweet, Mamdani bluntly asked a friend, “What’s wrong with you working for Badman, aka @edmarkey?” This was directed at Senator Ed Markey, who was a Democratic representative at the time.
Reflecting on his college days, Mamdani tied the criticism to Markey’s stance on foreign policy, suggesting that even a lesser evil can still be quite malevolent.
“Why should we accept the argument that someone is ‘better than the current leader’ if they’re still flawed?” he posited.
At age 33, Mamdani, a current state legislator, frequently votes with the Democratic majority in New York, led by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
He also resurfaced a tweet from 2013 regarding Edward Snowden’s disclosures about NSA surveillance, saying, “I can’t trust the quote from @barackobama ever since Snowden’s #NSA revelations came to light.”
Moreover, Mamdani scrutinized not just Obama but also former Mayor Bill de Blasio, questioning their commitment to progressive principles.
He tweeted, “Do you love @barackobama, @billdeblasio, what you love to pass progressively in the US?”
Recent polls indicate that Obama holds a remarkable 96% approval rating among Democrats nationally.
Mamdani’s critiques come amid his partnership with Adrian Adams, the first Black speaker of the city council. He has called on supporters to contribute to Adams’s mayoral campaign, aiming to diminish support for Cuomo.
His team is actively courting “old, non-white, external working-class voters” as part of their strategy.
In response to Mamdani’s remarks, Pastor Patrick Young of Covid First Baptist Church expressed discontent, stating that calling Obama “evil” undermines the legacy of the first Black president. “This type of aggressive rhetoric is both divisive and unconstructive,” he noted.
Young urged Mamdani to retract his harsh statements swiftly.
As Mamdani’s campaign visibly gains traction, his past tweets have come under scrutiny, suggesting that opponents may be feeling threatened. A spokesman for Mamdani argued, “Our momentum shows that our rivals are desperate, resorting to digging into 21-year-old comments.” He emphasized that Mamdani previously volunteered for Obama’s campaign and is now focused on making New York City affordable for all its residents.
