Zohran Mamdani hits back after Trump's arrest threat amid Islamophobic backlash
The Trump administration appears to be paving way for investigation into Mamdani’s citizenship status, while Trump threatens to arrest him. Mamdani remains defiant
The possibility of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City, getting stripped of his US citizenship has been raised by the Trump administration.
This development comes in the wake of a right-wing Republican representative for Tennessee, Andy Ogles demanding Mamdani’s citizenship be revoked on the grounds he may have concealed his support for “terrorism” during the naturalization process.
According to a report in The Guardian, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to pave the way for an investigation into Mamdani’s status, as part of a crackdown against foreign-born citizens convicted of certain offences.
Support for Palestinian rights
Mamdani, 33, who was born in Uganda to ethnic Indian parents, became a US citizen in 2018 and has attracted attention for his strident support for Palestinian rights.
Also read: 'Communist lunatic': Trump rages at Mamdani’s victory in NYC Democratic mayoral primary
Donald Trump was asked on Tuesday about Mamdani’s pledge to “stop masked” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents “from deporting our neighbors”. The US president told Axios that then they will have to "arrest him".
'Refuse to hide in shadows'
In a post on X, Mamdani responded to Trump's statement, “The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let Ice terrorize our city,” he wrote.
He continued: “His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation.”
Spike in Islamophobia
There has been a spike in Islamophobia, after Mamdani’s victory in last week’s New York mayoral primary, said reports.
According to Muslim Americans in New York and across the United States, the country is seeing a sharp increase in Islamophobic rhetoric in response to Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primaries.
Activists felt that a wave of hateful comments shows that Islamophobia remains a tolerated form of bigotry in the US despite appearing to have receded in recent year.
It is not just anonymous internet users and online anti-Muslim figures who are hitting out at Mamdani and his identity. But a number of politicians, including close to Trump are also attacking him.