Zohran Mamdani faces backlash as old Columbus tweet goes viral again

Zohran Mamdani, 34, will become New York City’s next mayor, marking a historic victory.

Many are celebrating, while others worry about the city’s future, calling him a communist.

At the same time, an old tweet of his has resurfaced, sparking controversy.

Flipping the middle finger at Columbus

Just a year ago, Zohran Mamdani was a relatively unknown figure – today, everyone is eager to learn about the 34-year-old Queens-based democratic socialist and state assembly member.

At the same time, an old tweet is making a comeback in the spotlight, one that many people have had, and still have, strong opinions about.

You could say it all started with a June 2020 tweet, in which the socialist Mamdani was pictured flipping the middle finger at a towering statue in Astoria, a neighborhood within his state Assembly district.

“Take it down,” said Mamdani, who was running for state assembly at the time.

The post didn’t sit well with Italian Americans in the city, including the Columbus Heritage Coalition, ever since it resurfaced on social media.

Angelo Vivolo, president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition, vowed not to support the left-leaning candidate come November.

“We will defend Columbus Day and Columbus statues,” Vivolo told The New York Post.

“He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community,” Vivolo added, who is the former head of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, which runs the city’s Columbus Day Parade. “If you offend one community, you offend all communities. I don’t think he will be mayor for all the people of New York City.”

Conservative voices fuming

Conservative voices on social media quickly pushed back against the post.

“Not gonna happen,” actor Joe Piscopo wrote on X.

“This guy needs to be stopped,” YouTuber Joey Salads added on X.

“The most defining characteristic of the left is ingratitude,” journalist Megan Basham commented on X.

“He disrespects the critical role Italians and Catholics played in the founding of our nation,” former Trump official Ezra A. Cohen tweeted. “Shameful.”

Italian Americans make up about 8% of the city’s population, and Mamdani has disrespected a major voting bloc, said Joseph Scelsa, founder and president of the Italian American Museum.

”He is not the victim”

“To eliminate such a large population of people would be a travesty,” he said. “It’s not inclusive. It’s exclusionary. Who’s to say who is a hero and who is not a hero? Columbus is our hero.”

Just two days before early voting began in the New York mayoral race, on October 23, Mamdani’s rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, accused him of playing the “victim” while “in reality, he is the offender.”

“Zohran himself is the person who has created the tension with the Jewish community and the LGBT community and the Italian community and the Black community, etc. He is not the victim, He is not the victim,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo pointed to the 2020 tweet showing Mamdani giving the middle finger to a statue of Christopher Columbus, calling it offensive to Italian Americans.

”Christopher Columbus is considered by many a saint in the Italian-American community and you give it the finger? You offend me as an Italian-American and the Italian-American community,” Cuomo said.

He also pushed back against Mamdani’s claims that he and his family faced Islamophobia. “New Yorkers are not Islamophobic. New Yorkers are all from different places, that’s who we are. And New Yorkers accept one another, and New Yorkers have no tolerance whosoever for discrimination of anyone,” Cuomo said.

Some left-leaning politicians focus on removing Columbus statues and questioning Columbus Day because of the harsh treatment of Native Americans during his expeditions. Supporters, however, emphasize his significance to Italian Americans, viewing his voyage as a key historical milestone.

Making the rounds again

Now, that same tweet has taken on new weight following Mamdani’s victory in the mayoral race.

Once again, the debate flared up on social media. Some of the reactions?

“Someone call Batman because NYC is about to become Gotham City,” one user wrote.
“Working to rewrite history is the work of the foolish,” commented another.

“So what, lol? it’s historically understandable to dislike columbus, it’s not the same as hating the USA,” added a supporter defending Mamdani.

“Because the more you learn about Columbus the more you realise he was a piece of shit,” wrote someone else.

Zohran Mamdani has not commented on his five-year-old tweet yet, but it’s not impossible that the issue will resurface and that the debate over whether Columbus statues should remain or be removed will continue.