New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani faces fury after campaigning alongside Imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
New York City — Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has come under intense criticism after publicly campaigning with Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a cleric once named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to a report by the New York Post.
Mamdani, who has already been dogged by controversy over his anti-Israel rhetoric and refusal to condemn Hamas, posted a smiling photo on X with Wahhaj and Councilman Yusef Salaam at the Masjid At-Taqwa in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century,” Mamdani wrote. “A beautiful Jummah.”
The post drew immediate outrage from across New York’s political spectrum.
Wahhaj’s Radical Record
Imam Siraj Wahhaj, 75 — born Jeffrey Kearse — is a prominent Islamist activist who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000.
He has defended convicted terrorists, denouncing the FBI and CIA as “the real terrorists”, and testified in support of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh” convicted of plotting attacks against U.S. targets, calling him a “respected scholar.”
In a sermon from the early 2000s, Wahhaj called for a “gun-free jihad” in New York, urging followers to “march through the city until the whole city can’t sleep.” He spoke of raising “an army of 10,000 Muslim men to fight in the way of Allah.”
Political Backlash
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa blasted Mamdani, saying:
“New York needs a mayor who protects New Yorkers from terrorism, not one who embraces terrorists.”
Independent candidate and former Governor Andrew Cuomo echoed that sentiment:
“[Mamdani] is proud to be standing with an unindicted co-conspirator in the ’93 World Trade Center terror attack that killed New Yorkers? When people tell you who they are, believe them — and Zohran, wipe that smile off your face.”
Neither Mamdani nor Wahhaj responded to media requests for comment.
A Pattern of Extremism
Mamdani’s campaign has already faced mounting scrutiny for his anti-Israel activism.
- He refused to condemn the call to “globalize the intifada.”
- He accused Israel of genocide and war crimes after the October 7 Hamas massacre.
- He announced that his campaign would no longer use the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a standard adopted by dozens of democratic nations.
During a recent Fox News interview with Martha MacCallum, Mamdani dodged direct questions on whether Hamas should disarm, only saying, “I believe in peace and international law for all sides.”
Pressed again during a mayoral debate, Mamdani finally said Hamas “should lay down their arms” but went on to accuse Israel of “genocide” in Gaza.
The Broader Concern
Mamdani’s alliance with Wahhaj — a man with a documented history of radical preaching and association with terrorists — has ignited fears about extremist normalization in mainstream politics.
Political observers warn that such associations undermine New York’s counterterrorism legacy and insult the memory of victims of Islamist terror — from 1993 to 9/11.
As New York’s Jewish and secular communities express alarm, Mamdani’s campaign is now under growing pressure to publicly disavow Wahhaj — and to explain why he chose to campaign alongside a man who once defended those who sought to destroy the city he now wants to lead.
