JD Vance criticizes Mamdani over 9/11 comment during campaign event

Vice President JD Vance on Saturday criticized New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, writing on X that in line with the Democrat, “the true sufferer of September 11” was his aunt.

Vance made the remark as early voting started Saturday in New York Metropolis, the place Mamdani, the frontrunner within the race, is attempting to fend off challengers Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.

“I wish to communicate in reminiscence of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11 as a result of she did not really feel protected in her hijab,” Mamdani stated in a clip from a marketing campaign occasion on Friday that Vance shared.

“In response to Zohran, the true sufferer of September 11 was his aunt, who (reportedly) regarded unhealthy,” Vance stated.

EARLY VOTING IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, AMIDST hotly contested mayoral and gubernatorial races

Vice President JD Vance (left) criticized New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Saturday, October 25, 2025. (Leo Correa/AP; Hiroko Masuike/The New York Occasions through AP)

Mamdani additionally stated Friday: “I wish to communicate to the Muslim who works for our metropolis, whether or not instructing in our colleges or working for the NYPD, New Yorkers who all make each day sacrifices for town they name dwelling, solely to have their leaders spit of their faces.”

“I wish to communicate to each little one who grows up right here and stands out from the opposite, who’s randomly chosen in a method that by no means feels fully random, who appears like they carry a stain that may by no means be cleaned. Rising up within the shadow of September 11, I’ve recognized what it means to reside on this metropolis with an undercurrent of distrust,” Mamdani added.

Fox Information Digital has reached out to the Mamdani marketing campaign for response to Vance’s remark.

SOCIAL MEDIA RELAXED AFTER CUOMO, MAMDANI RIP EACH OTHER DURING FINAL DEBATE: ‘UNMASKED’

Andrew Cuomo shakes fingers with Zohran Mamdani throughout a mayoral debate this week. (Angelina Katsanis)

Mamdani accused Cuomo of “Islamophobic rhetoric” this week after the previous governor joined a radio present and the host speculated that Mamdani would “cheer” if New York Metropolis suffered one other 9/11-style assault.

Throughout an look on WABC’s “Sid & Pals within the Morning” on Thursday, Cuomo questioned Mamdani’s capacity to steer town by a disaster.

“Each second there’s a disaster and other people’s lives are at stake. God forbid, there’s one other 9/11. Are you able to think about Mamdani within the chair?” Cuomo requested host Sid Rosenberg.

“He would cheer,” Rosenberg replied.

“That is a special problem,” Cuomo stated, earlier than returning to his hypothetical query: “However are you able to think about that?”

At a Mamdani marketing campaign occasion later Thursday in Manhattan, a reporter requested Mamdani whether or not Cuomo’s feedback had been Islamophobic.

Individuals forged their votes throughout early voting on Saturday, October 25, 2025 in New York. (Olga Fedorova/AP)

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“Sure, I imagine so,” Mamdani stated earlier than including: “We’re speaking a few former governor who, in his final moments in public life, engaged in rhetoric that isn’t solely Islamophobic and never solely racist, but in addition disgusting.”

Deirdre Heavey of Fox Information Digital contributed to this report.