(DCNF)—Former Democrat New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman said Friday on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber that the term socialism has been “weaponized” into an “anti-American” slur, praising socialist Democrat New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as the party’s future following his mayoral primary win.
On Tuesday, Mamdani officially became New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee, beating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by an estimated eight points, according to Associated Press projections. While discussing criticism of Mamdani’s views from both parties, Bowman was asked if he’s been “surprised” by comments like Democrat New York Sen. Kristen Gillibrand suggesting Mamdani made a reference to calling for a “global jihad.”
“I’m not surprised, unfortunately. You know, there’s so much ignorance toward and around the Muslim religion and Islam as a religion. People from different backgrounds, brown people from different backgrounds,” Bowman said.
“The word socialism is weaponized as some kind of, you know, anti-American thing. Senator Gillibrand and others seem to have fallen victim to that level of ignorance and miseducation,” Bowman added. “There are thousands, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Muslims in New York state. Senator Gillibrand represents them too.”
During her interview on “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Thursday, Gillibrand also called for Mamdani to denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
On “The Bulwark” with host Tim Miller, Mamdani was asked about the phrases “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea,” which he refused to denounce. After the clip circulated online, Mamdani doubled down Tuesday, again refusing to denounce “globalize the intifada,” saying the phrase could have “different meaning[s] for many different people,” according to PIX11.
Gillibrand’s team — as the MSNBC guest host told Bowman — later said on X she had not meant “global jihad” and “misspoke,” with her communications director adding her main concern was Mamdani denouncing the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Bowman was later pressed whether he believes the Democrat Party “is going to learn some lessons” from the New York City mayoral race. He called on his fellow lawmakers to “get on board” with Mamdani.
“I hope so. They got to. Everyone should get on board and endorse Zoran right now because our party’s approval numbers are 20 something percent. We’re on life support. We allowed Trump back in the office again,” Bowman said. “Our democracy is on the precipice of falling apart. The Democratic Party has to save American democracy and leaning into Zoran and others who are stars in our party.”
“We got a bunch of stars right here in New York … Uplift them. We have to bridge the gap, the generational divide that’s happening in the party between the older, more establishment and the younger,” Bowman said. “We have to bridge that gap to save our country.”
Amid concerns about his leadership, Mamdani sought to woo Jewish voters during an interview with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Wednesday. When asked about worries from the city’s Jewish community, Mamdani said he would increase funding for hate crime programs by 800% to help “root out” antisemitism.
Mamdani has faced backlash for policies he plans to implement if elected mayor, including raising the minimum wage to $30 and proposing $10 billion to fund a range of free amenities.
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