I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit. Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim. He’s criticized for campaigning with a guy who said that America deserved 9/11.
This is also untrue. Piker has never apologized for those comments. He has said that he was misinterpreted, and then later said that he had previously apologized. But he never actually did.
That HuffPost article is a Piker puff piece, not a serious investigation of the situation.
…I think it’s unreasonable to suggest that the reason we are speaking up loudly and clearly against the genocide in Gaza is because of any large or active “PR campaigns,” but due to the fact that many of us have reached the unsettling conclusion that for decades we’ve just accepted anti-Palestinian propaganda unquestionably as truth.
I put my hand up as one of those people. And you just have to read any of the threads outside of the pit to see how comfortable people are talking about and treating Palestinians as subhuman. Even in this thread Babale will refuse to condemn any atrocities committed against Palestinians. In Great Debates and in Elections people will openly talk about how Palestinians deserve what happened to them, and they don’t care what is happening to them now.
I’m reacting to the open bigotry that I’m seeing on display all around me, even right here on these boards. I don’t need a “PR campaign” to convince me. And it hasn’t been PR campaigns that have turned people against the government of Israel and the governments and the people that prop it up.
This would be the same Progressive Caucus that every DSA member in Congress belongs to, and that voted overwhelmingly to support AOC’s bid to lead the Oversight Committee?
It’s really refreshing to see Babs going full Giuliani here. MAGA welcomes you, Babs! They’ll be happy to deliver you a fresh set of Iran talking points, should you ever find the courage to discuss it again!
When someone says he routinely encounters people denying the Holomodor, and then says “Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim”…I guess he isn’t using the same internet I am.
You’re right, they weren’t on a stage together, they just campaigned together and then made the rounds together at the election night watch party. I guess that makes it OK to campaign with a guy who thinks that America deserved 9/11?
There are obviously right wing assholes who do criticize Mamdani for being a Muslim. I was not saying that no one is doing that, I meant that the criticism about him campaigning with Piker is about his 9/11 comments, not anyone’s religion.
Nope, I misremembered, which is why when you asked I looked it up and corrected myself. Do you feel it makes a material difference whether they were physically onstage at the same time?
Did he actually know about Kraft when he made that tweet? If so, why did he give no evidence? Even a broken clock can be right twice a day.
Or maybe he did have some proof that he didn’t think was worth sharing. You might think he deserves the benefit of the doubt; after seeing his costuming choice, I don’t.
I already addressed that:
Giuliani is a piece of shit. He is also not the only one criticizing Mamdani. I think Mamdani should be criticized for campaigning with Hasan “America Deserved 9/11” Piker but I don’t think he should be barred from going to a 9/11 memorial.
Yes, he does. The fact that he went on his uncle’s show to say he was being “satirical” but continues to push the same message to this day does not prove that he doesn’t.
Yes, and I’m glad that after lots of handwaving and deflection he was able to make that little concession, but what he has never addressed is why, despite these comments that he apparently finds objectionable and reprehensible he nevertheless considered it appropriate to campaign with Piker.
Puzzlegal’s cite that you made that reply to was about people saying he shouldn’t show up at the 9/11 memorial ceremony. Are you willing to concede that that’s straight up Islamophobia, or is it reasonable that someone might feel that way about Mamdani solely because someone who campaigned for him said something stupid in 2019?
It could be Islamophobia, or it could be that someone who has a more direct connection to 9/11, such as losing a family member on that day, is more offended than I am by these comments and Mamdani’s refusal to full throatedly condemn the person who made them and his continued campaigning with that person. I am sure that of the people pushing for Mamdani not to come there were representatives of both camps.
You really can’t imagine any reason to be offended by Mamdani’s actions other than Islamophobia?
Giuliani, Hegseth, Bibi… there is an entire cast of real life villains that live rent free in your head 24/7.
Whenever anyone disagrees with your world view in any way, you pull one out of your evil-doer rolodex and characterize them with every single negative attribute.
Must be nice to have this nice and simple good-guy/bad-guy view of everyone and everything. ‘Feh! Never heard of this low ratings Piker guy! 400:1!’
Who needs nuance when simple caricatures are so much easier to assign and argue against.
If you read the article, and not just the two paragraphs i quoted because they mentioned Piker, it was clear that the article was about Mamdani being criticized for being Muslim.
Also, you said above that the Mamdani campaign paid to fly piker to his events. (And didn’t reply to my request for a citation.) Now you are saying they weren’t even on stage together. What, exactly, is their connection?
Because if it’s just that Mamdani has some embarrassing supporters, well, so do 100% of politicians who make the national news.