‘It’s not good enough to just say she’s “a private person” — she’s not,’ one elected official close to the mayor told Politico
Some allies of Zohran Mamdani are urging the New York City mayor to confront the social media history of his wife Rama Duwaji—which has included support for terrorism and the use of a variety of slurs—after Mamdani reduced the weight of her posts to those of “a private person.”
Five people close to the mayor, including one from his transition team, disputed Mamdani’s characterization of Duwaji, telling Politico that she is in fact a public figure.
“As the leader of New York City, he has to start addressing this,” Moms United For Black Lives NYC’s Tanesha Grant told the outlet. “It’s his responsibility. It’s not good enough to just say she’s ‘a private person’ — she’s not. He can’t let things fester like that.”
“She has a police detail and a government staff,” another Mamdani ally added, while an elected official close to Mamdani said Duwaji “would need to do an interview, better explain herself, and … do some visits and meetings with key constituencies, like Jewish museums.”
Growing angst among the mayor’s inner circle comes on the heels of a Washington Free Beacon report, which Politico cites, uncovering a series of inappropriate posts made by Duwaji. “@_AlyaF Helllll yeah, nigga,” she posted on Feb. 2, 2013. “Whyyyyyy are all these fgts folllowing [sic] meeeeeeeee,” she added on June 16 later in the same year.
The racial slur has not been received kindly by black New Yorkers.
“Black folks were left stunned and outraged after throwing their support to Mamdani and his wife,” the Root wrote.
Duwaji’s posts, which came when she was in her late teens and early 20s, also included praise for terrorists.
“If it does good for my cause, I’ll be happy to accept death,” one 2017 caption posted to Duwaji’s Tumblr account read in honor of famed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist Leila Khaled, who participated in two plane hijackings. Duwaji also reposted a 2015 tweet praising fellow PFLP terrorist Shadia Abu Ghazaleh—who participated in the bombing of an Israeli bus and led several other terror attacks—as the “first palestinian woman to fight in resistance after 1967 occupation.”
Duwaji’s old X account was deleted in the wake of the Free Beacon‘s report.
