The New York Times Tries To Create A Mamdani Antisemitism Scandal

In the race for mayor, Zohran Mamdani is polling second with Jewish New Yorkers—but one would hardly know it reading the paper of record.

By Adam Johnson, In These Times

The New York Times’ Nicholas Fandos broke the news Thursday morning that New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani received a blockbuster endorsement from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) in a major boost to his insurgent campaign for mayor. This scoop made headlines and energized the Mamdani campaign as well as his array of devoted followers. But the article included a typical grimy New York Times pot shot that’s worth further analysis, namely because it’s not the first — and likely won’t be the last — time the New York Times tries to sneak in this particular falsehood. It reads:

“Mr. Mamdani, for example, has alienated parts of the city’s large Jewish community with his outspoken support for the Palestinian cause and accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.”

The reader would likely come away from reading this section with the distinct impression Mamdani is uniquely struggling with Jewish New York voters. ​“Parts” could mean anything, but clearly his support among Jewish New Yorkers must be a major barrier or else the publication wouldn’t have gone out of their way to note this, right? But there’s only one problem: It’s entirely false.

According to the latest poll of Jewish New Yorkers by Honan Strategy Group survey, and featured in Jewish magazine The Forward, Mamdani is in a strong second position in the race and is polling with Jewish New Yorkers roughly the same as his overall support. Indeed, relative to his overall numbers, among Jewish voters Mamdani is outperforming former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who the Times never says has ​“alienated” any part of the Jewish community.

By way of comparison, the latest Emerson College Polling/​PIX11/​The Hill poll found that 35.1 percent of all voters support Cuomo on the first round of the ballot and 22.7 percent support Mamdani.

Cuomo, despite polling at 35.1 percent overall, only has 31 percent of Jewish support (a gap of 4.1 percentage points), while Mamdani’s numbers are 22.7 percent overall versus 20 percent among Jewish voters, or a gap of 2.7 percentage point. This is all well within the margin of error, but Mamdani’s support among Jewish voters appears to be, at worst, roughly equal to that of his support over all.