A Fox News host made the wild claim that New York Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to “eliminate” the Jewish community in the city.
In response to a comments made by popular New York Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, who claimed that Mamdani poses a “danger” to Jewish residents, Lawrence Jones said the number of Jews in the city that were expressing support for the Democrat ahead of the election was “shocking.”
“I would say to the Rabbi, you have to go out there and talk with some of the Jews in New York,” Jones said on Fox & Friends. “Have you seen the polling that’s supporting Mamdani within the Jewish community? It is shocking to me.
Jones added: “I can’t fight for you harder than you fight for yourself. He wants to eliminate your entire community. Doesn’t even believe in a Jewish state. Yet, he still has a lot of support within the community.”
In remarks made to worshippers Saturday, that were played on Fox & Friends, Cosgrove said: “I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community.”
“Mamdani’s refusal to condemn insightful slogans like ‘globalize the intifada,’ his denial of Israel’s legitmacy as a Jewish state, his calls to arrest Israel’s prime minister should he enter New York, and his thrice-repeated accusation of genocide in Thursday’s debate. For these and so many other statements past, present, and unrepentant, he is a danger to the Jewish body politic of New York City,” he added.
Mamdani told business leaders during a July meeting that he would not use the phrase “globalize the intifada,” according to the New York Times. He previously refused to condemn it during the Democratic primary, despite critics saying it encouraged violence against Jews.
In addition, Mamdani explicitly said during a debate in June that “Israel has a right to exist as a state with equal rights.”
If elected, Mamdani said he would honor an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Netanyahu, should the Israeli prime minister visit New York. Experts told the Times that the plans would be both impractical and potentially illegal.
Despite being heavily accused by those on the right of antisemitism, polls show that Democrat Mamdani still holds a comfortable lead over his rivals, former state Governor Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, as the race enters its final stages.
A new survey from AARP and Gotham Polling found that Mamdani holds a 43.2 percent lead, with Cuomo in second place at 28.9 percent, and Sliwa last with 19.4 percent.
The Independent has contacted Mamdani’s campaign for comment in response to the remarks made by Jones.
