In his surprising rise to New York City’s top tier of mayoral hopefuls, Zohran Mamdani has battled opponents’ attacks on his inexperience, his leftward politics and his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.
But this week, Mr. Mamdani found himself facing a new attack that was both pointed and illogical, when a Republican city councilwoman from Queens called for him to be deported. (Mr. Mamdani is a U.S. citizen.)
The remark by the councilwoman, Vickie Paladino, who is known for her incendiary social media posts, quickly became a talking point in the Democratic mayoral primary race, just a day before the candidates were to face off in their first debate.
Ms. Paladino recirculated a 2019 social media post from Mr. Mamdani in which he said he couldn’t vote for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for president in 2016 because he was not a citizen at the time. She was incredulous that Mr. Mamdani was being treated seriously as a mayoral candidate.
“Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a U.S. citizen for 10 years — much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about,” Ms. Paladino wrote on X late Monday evening. “Deport.”
Mr. Mamdani, who is polling second behind former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the June 24 primary, soon responded.
“Death threats. Islamophobic bigotry. Now a sitting council member calling for my deportation. Enough,” Mr. Mamdani wrote on social media. “This is what Trump and his sycophants have wrought.”
Mr. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, has lived in New York City since 1998, when he was 7 years old. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018 and is seeking to become the city’s first Muslim mayor.
He sought to use Ms. Paladino’s remarks as an on-the-spot litmus test for Mr. Cuomo.
“Will Cuomo condemn this or will that upset his MAGA donors?” Mr. Mamdani asked.
Brad Lander, the city comptroller who is also running for mayor, condemned Ms. Paladino’s remarks as “sickening, Donald Trump-aligned, dangerous politics,” and also called on Mr. Cuomo to do the same.
“I’d encourage Andrew Cuomo to call on Councilmember Paladino to take her tweet down if the goal is to cool down the rhetoric and keep New Yorkers safe,” Mr. Lander added.
Mr. Cuomo responded nearly in kind.
“The Republican answer to everything, including the common cold, is deportation and it has to stop,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.
Mr. Mamdani has emerged as the most potent threat to Mr. Cuomo in the primary, and the two have clear differences in their politics, their experience and especially their views of Israel.
Mr. Cuomo is a staunch supporter of Israel; Mr. Mamdani uses the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions against Gaza, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Ms. Paladino is also a strong supporter of Israel who has used her social media presence to criticize pro-Palestinian demonstrators at New York City universities. She wrote that such protests were “producing monsters, and it’s now our job to slay them. Simple as that.”
By Tuesday afternoon, her tone was decidedly unapologetic. She did not respond to a request for comment but posted on social media that she had received death threats and that police officers had been stationed at her City Council office and her home.
She reposted a social media statement from the New York Young Republican Club that said Mr. Mamdani “shouldn’t have been allowed into the United States in the first place,” and she criticized Mr. Mamdani’s views on Israel.
“This incident illustrates perfectly the need for President Trump’s mass deportation policy,” she said, adding that “future Zohrans” should be removed “from the country before they have a chance to take root in America.”
At a news conference in Jackson Heights on Tuesday, Mr. Mamdani said people like Ms. Paladino were threatened by New York City’s diversity. “It is something that they fear, something that they slander, something they seek to expel and deport,” he said.
Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker who is also running for mayor, condemned the remarks by Ms. Paladino, who lost a committee assignment in 2023 because of anti-L.G.B.T.Q. statements.
Ms. Adams called the comments “part of a playbook to divide us and spread hate.” According to City Council officials, Ms. Paladino will almost certainly be referred to the Council’s Committee on Standards and Ethics, which has the power to discipline members.
Mayor Eric Adams, who will run for re-election as an independent in November on a ballot line he named “EndAntiSemitism,” seemed to reject Ms. Paladino’s remarks at an unrelated news conference at City Hall, but stopped short of a specific rebuke when asked about them.
“We should all tone down our rhetoric” and “meanspirited, hateful language,” Mr. Adams said.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed reporting.
Jeffery C. Mays is a Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall.
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