Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (D-NYC) would not condemn the expressly anti-Israel call to “globalize the intifada,” despite being asked three times whether he would do so.
Host Kristen Welker posed the question, several times over, during Mamdani’s Sunday morning interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” where she correctly pointed out that the phrase is a call for violence against the Jewish people — and the self-described Democratic Socialist could not bring himself to condemn the phrase.
WATCH:
.@kwelkernbc to Mamdani:
Do you condemn that phrase, Globalize the Intifada?
But do you actually condemn it..which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?
For the people who .. feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?
Mamdani’s reply ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eZuhMSEO0c
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) June 29, 2025
“You were recently asked about the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ if it makes you uncomfortable. In that moment you did not condemn the phrase. Now, just so folks understand, it’s a phrase that many people hear as a call to violence against Jews. There’s been a lot of attention on this issue, so I want to give you an opportunity to respond here and now,” Welker said, setting up the question. “Do you condemn that phrase ‘globalize the intifada?’”
Mamdani gave a long reply, and while he claimed that was not the “language” that he personally would choose, he also did not condemn the phrase. Instead, he said that he believed “freedom and justice and safety are things that, to have meaning, have to be applied to all people, and that includes Israelis and Palestinians as well.”
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“But do you actually condemn it?” Welker repeated. “I think that’s the question and the outstanding issue that a number of people, both of the Jewish faith and beyond, have. Do you condemn that phrase, ‘globalize the intifada,’ which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?”
Mamdani pivoted to attack Trump, and claimed he didn’t believe it was a mayor’s job to “police” the speech of the people.
“But very quickly, for the people who care about the language and who feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?” Welker asked a third time.
Jabbing at Trump once again, Mamdani dodged the question entirely and said, “My concern is to start to walk down the line of language and making clear what language I believe is permissible or impermissible takes me into a place similar to that of the president, who is looking to do those very kinds of things. Ultimately, it’s not language that I use. It’s language I understand there are concerns about.”
