Stefanik Labels Mamdani 'Terrorist Sympathizer' in Fundraiser Email; Outrage Ensues Before Race Call

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) wasted no time in sending out a fundraising appeal regarding Zohran Mamdani’s apparent victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor — emailing a message that attacked Mamdani as a “terrorist sympathizer” who “truly makes me sick” well before the race was called.

Mamdani, a 33-year-old NYC Democratic Socialist assemblyman who has espoused staunchly progressive views, managed to build his support over the course of the race, going from a mere 1% to an election eve poll that had him ahead of the original frontrunner, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo . Less than four years ago, Cuomo resigned amid a swirling parade of scandals including his handling of the Covid pandemic and sexual misconduct and harassment accusations, but his name recognition helped buoy him in the initial weeks of the primary.

After polls closed on Tuesday, the vote count quickly showed Mamdani outperforming even the last round of polls across the board, racking up a solid lead over Cuomo.

Mamdani remains still short of the 50% threshold but has enough of an advantage over second-place Cuomo that most political observers see no mathematical way for Cuomo to catch up. The former governor called Mamdani to congratulate him on his triumphant evening, but thus far reports say Cuomo has not expressly conceded the race.

Stefanik, who represents a mostly rural district in the northeast part of upstate New York, was appointed by President Donald Trump to be the next the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, but the White House withdrew her nomination amid concerns about two congressional special elections in Florida where the Republican candidates were viewed as potentially vulnerable, putting the GOP’s razor-thin majority at risk .

Since unpacking her belongings back into a congressional office and mothballing her ambassadorial dreams, Stefanik has refocused much of her energy on New York politics.

At 10 pm ET, New York Times political correspondent Shane Goldmacher posted a screenshot of a fundraising email from Stefanik — well before any major media outlet had issued any calls in the NYC mayoral primary — bashing Mamdani as a “self-avowed socialist and Hamas Terrorist sympathizer” and saying that the “idea” that he “could become the next mayor of New York City truly makes me sick.”

The text of the screenshot read as follows:

Shane,

My stomach is in knots.

The idea that a self-avowed socialist and Hamas Terrorist sympathizer like Zohran Mamdani could become the next mayor of New York City truly makes me sick.

NY Post : “Mamdani backer who works for NYC Campaign Finance Board is a longtime socialist operative with links to terror groups”

New York City is home to the Statue of Liberty. It’s a word- renowned symbol of freedom and the extraordinary resilience of the American people.

If a socialist and Hamas Terrorist sympathizer becomes the next Mayor of the biggest city in America, every principle we hold dear as freedom-loving Americans will be under threat.

And believe me, it pains me to say this next part. I truly wish I didn’t have to … but a poll shows that he’s taken the LEAD in ranked choice voting in the Democrat primary.

That’s why I’m doing everything in my power — truly, everything I can — to ensure that such a doomsday scenario NEVER takes place.

Stefanik also posted multiple tweets attacking Mamdani and other New York Democrats:

Stefanik specifically called out New York Mayor Kathy Hochul, blaming her “catastrophic failed leadership of the NY Democrat Party” for allowing “a radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging Antisemite” to be the likely winner of the mayoral primary, accusing New York Democrats of having “fully embraced Marxism, antisemitism, anti-capitalism, and sheer insanity.”

“Kathy Hochul, the Worst Governor in America, you just got a Communist antisemite elected as the Democrat nominee for Mayor of New York City,” she continued. “You have refused to disavow his dangerous rhetoric and policies and you will be held accountable by New Yorkers.”

In several follow-up tweets, Stefanik ridiculed Hochul for not yet posting a “congratulatory tweet to the antisemitic, jihadist, Communist candidate you helped elect in your party’s Democrat primary because of your silence, weakness, and ineptitude.”

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The post Stefanik Attacks Mamdani as ‘Terrorist Sympathizer’ in Fundraising Email Before NYC Race Even Called: ‘Truly Makes Me Sick’ first appeared on The News Pulse .