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Unearthed antisemitic, anti-Israel posts from Mamdani aide spark GOP outrage
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New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing heat from two New York lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital after a report showing a member of his transition team espoused vitriolic anti-Israel sentiments under the backdrop of Mamdani’s promises to combat antisemitism as mayor.
Hassaan Chaudhary, according to a New York Post report on Sunday, has a social media presence littered with anti-Israel posts, including calling the country «barbaric,» using the term «Jew» as a slur, and praising Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Chaudhary, who listed himself as a political director for Mamdani’s transition team, apologized for the remarks, saying the decade-old posts don’t represent his current views and that he looks back on them with «regret.»
However, two lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital blasted Mamdani’s association with Chaudhary and warned that it shows the socialist mayor-elect is not being serious when he pledges to combat antisemitism in New York City.
PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT CALLS MAMDANI NYC ELECTION ‘SAD’ AND VICTORY SPEECH ‘DIVISIVE’
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks to members of the media at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«Let’s be transparent — this isn’t some innocent staffing mistake,» New York Republican Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz told Fox News Digital. «This is who Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani is and what his transition team/incoming administration stands for.»
«When the incoming Mayor surrounds himself with someone who uses language about Jews reminiscent of the 1930s, praises Ahmadinejad, and holds other abhorrent views, that’s not a red flag — that’s a flashing siren. Extremism isn’t a fringe element of Zohran Mamdani’s team; it’s the foundation he’s building/destroying City Hall on.»
A Mamdani spokesperson told the New York Post that Chaudhary is a Muslim outreach director and not a political director, but did not say whether he would be fired.
«These comments from over a decade ago are reprehensible and in no way reflect the views of the mayor-elect or this transition,» a Mamdani spokesperson told Fox News Digital. «The mayor-elect has made this clear internally and consistently during the campaign and transition.»
MAMDANI SLAMMED FOR JETTING TO ‘LUXURY RESORT’ FOR PUERTO RICO CONFERENCE DURING SHUTDOWN
After Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte’s campaign sent a van through Manhattan urging businesses to relocate north for «no Communism, less red tape, and lower taxes.» (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Inna Vernikov, a Republican New York City councilwoman, told Fox News Digital the situation shows that «useful idiots on the hard left have yet to realize that they’re just small pawns in a big and dangerous game.»
Vernikov added, «The same agitators screaming in defense of Hamas would be thrown off a roof for their various gender identities. Zohran needs to get one thing clear: he is no longer a protester. He now has a city of 8 million to govern.»
Mamdani faced heated criticism on the campaign trail for his long track record of criticizing Israel, dating back to his days in college, where he started his school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Additionally, hundreds of rabbis signed onto a letter in the weeks before the election denouncing his campaign.
Despite the outrage, Mamdani cruised to an election victory and has repeatedly promised to represent all New Yorkers, including the massive Jewish community in the city.
«We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism,» Mamdani said on election night, adding the next day that he takes the issue of antisemitism «incredibly seriously.»
Still, Blumencranz told Fox News Digital that «personnel is policy» and that New Yorkers «better buckle up» if these are the type of people being recruited in the transition.
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NYC Council member Inna Vernikov (right). (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
«You don’t ‘accidentally’ hire a person who has spent years spewing this kind of hate,» Blumencranz told Fox News Digital. «The fact that Mamdani hasn’t immediately removed him tells every New Yorker exactly what kind of administration we’re about to get — one where bigotry is tolerated, where antisemitism is normalized, and where the most hateful voices are welcomed into the Gracie Mansion and City Hall.»
The Mamdani team did not comment on Chaudhary’s current employment status.
«Every resident of this city, Jewish or not, should be alarmed,» Blumencranz said. «This is dangerous, it’s divisive, and it’s a disgrace.»
zohran mamdani,israel,new york city
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Pope Leo XIV warned Sunday that U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iran risk plunging the Middle East into an «irreparable abyss,» urging leaders to halt a dangerous spiral of violence.
Speaking at the Angelus, the pontiff expressed «deep concern» over recent developments and called on nations to choose dialogue over war.
«Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue,» the pope said, according to Vatican News.
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on March 1, 2026. The pontiff warned that escalating violence in the Middle East risks becoming an «irreparable abyss.» (Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane)
«Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions,» he added, «I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!»
The pope’s warning came after Israel and the U.S. launched a joint military operation against Iran on Saturday, dubbed «Operation Epic Fury.» The attacks reportedly killed several senior leaders, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades.
Meanwhile, Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed miles from Jerusalem.
The pope reinforced his warning in a two-part message posted Sunday morning on X.
PUTIN: KILLING OF KHAMENEI A ‘CYNICAL VIOLATION’ OF MORALITY
Smoke rises over Tehran after Israeli airstrikes on Iran, Feb. 28, 2026. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time,» he wrote.
«Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue.»
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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In a follow-up post, he warned of «the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions» and urged all parties involved to «assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm.»
«May diplomacy regain its proper role, and may the well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice, be upheld. And let us continue to pray for peace,» he added.
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pope leo xiv,vatican,war with iran,middle east,iran,israel
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Some of the top rumored Democratic potential candidates for president in 2028 are showing a united front in opposing U.S. strikes on Iran, with several high-profile figures accusing President Donald Trump of launching an unnecessary and unconstitutional war.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump was «dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want.»
«Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice,» Harris said in a statement Saturday following the joint U.S. and Israeli strikes throughout Iran.
«This is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble with American lives that also jeopardizes stability in the region and our standing in the world,» she continued. «What we are witnessing is not strength. It is recklessness dressed up as resolve.»
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are seen in separate appearances as leading Democratic 2028 hopefuls spoke out against U.S. strikes on Iran. (Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference; REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen; Mario Tama/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered some of his sharpest criticism during a book tour stop Saturday night in San Francisco, accusing Trump of manufacturing a crisis.
«It stems from weakness masquerading as strength,» Newsom said. «He lied to you. So reckless is the only way to describe this.»
«He didn’t describe to the American people what the endgame is here,» Newsom added. «There wasn’t one. He manufactured it.»
Newsom is currently promoting his memoir, «Young Man in a Hurry,» with recent and upcoming stops in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada — three key early voting states in the Democratic presidential calendar.
Earlier in the day, Newsom said Iran’s «corrupt and repressive» regime must never obtain nuclear weapons and that the «leadership of Iran must go.»
«But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends without justification to the American people,» Newsom wrote on X.
California is home to more than half of the roughly 400,000 Iranian immigrants in the United States, including a large community in West Los Angeles often referred to as «Tehrangeles.»
DEMOCRATS BUCK PARTY LEADERS TO DEFEND TRUMP’S ‘DECISIVE ACTION’ ON IRAN
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leading progressive voice and «Squad» member, accused Trump of dragging Americans into a conflict they did not support.
«The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic,» Ocasio-Cortez said.
«Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead,» she continued.
«In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not,» she said, pledging to vote «YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s War Powers Resolution.»
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Vox Media)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another Democrat often mentioned as a potential 2028 contender, also criticized the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress.
«No justification, no authorization from Congress, and no clear objective,» Pritzker wrote on X.
«Donald Trump is once again sidestepping the Constitution and once again failing to explain why he’s taking us into another war,» he continued. «Americans asked for affordable housing and health care, not another potentially endless conflict.»
«God protect our troops,» Pritzker added.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on war powers, arguing Trump acted outside constitutional guardrails.
«In our democracy, the American people — through our elected representatives — decide when our nation goes to war,» Shapiro said, adding that Trump «acted unilaterally — without Congressional approval.»
JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP STRIKES IRAN — PRECEDENT AND HISTORY ARE ON HIS SIDE
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on war powers, arguing Trump acted outside constitutional guardrails. (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«Make no mistake, the Iranian regime represses its own people … they must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons,» he said. «But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war.»
Shapiro added that «Congress must use all available power» to prevent further escalation.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also accused Trump of launching a «war of choice.»
«The President has launched our nation and our great military into a war of choice, risking American lives and resources, ignoring American law, and endangering our allies and partners,» Buttigieg wrote on X. «This nation learned the hard way that an unnecessary war, with no plan for what comes next, can lead to years of chaos and put America in still greater danger.»
Buttigieg has been hitting early voting states, stopping in New Hampshire and Nevada in recent weeks to campaign for Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who has been floated as a rising national figure within the party, said he lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war and opposed the strikes.
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«Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn’t been explained or justified to the American people. We can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die,» Gallego wrote on X.
Fox News’ Daniel Scully and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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war with iran,politics,gavin newsom,alexandria ocasio cortez,pete buttigieg,ben shapiro,kamala harris
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