State Sen. John Liu (left) endorses Meeting Member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, regardless of their disagreements on Israel. Monday, June 2, 2025.
Picture by Ethan Stark-Miller
Queens state Senator and former Metropolis Comptroller John Liu on Monday stated he’s backing Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani as his best choice within the Democratic mayoral main regardless of their sharp disagreements on Israel.
The senator, who beforehand served as metropolis comptroller between 2010 and 2013 and made an unsuccessful mayoral bid 12 years in the past, added that he admires Mamdani’s deal with training for immigrant communities, view of early childhood training as an “economic engine,” and understanding of the necessity for public security. He additionally praised Mamdani’s means to provide you with “practical policies” and make them comprehensible to New Yorkers in addition to his “integrity.”
“He is a public official who has no scars, no marks,” Liu stated. “People may disagree with him on issues, but he has held himself to the utmost integrity. His thousands of of small contributors have powered his campaign like no one a few months ago would have imagined. And because of that, he doesn’t owe anybody anything. He’s not beholden to any moneyed interests.”
Liu stated Mamdani’s integrity extends to his views on controversial points, together with the Israel-Palestine battle, the place they’ve a “big disagreement.” The Senator is pro-Israel, whereas Mamdani, who’s Muslim, has for years been fiercely important of its authorities and advocated for the rights of Palestinians.
“Though I differ from him, we have had honest conversations, and he has never lost his integrity in the process,” Liu stated. “I know that he has opened his eyes much more to the need to protect all New Yorkers, including recognizing the unmistakable spike in anti-Jewish hatred.”
Mamdani has continued to carry that stance since Israel’s almost two-year army marketing campaign in Gaza started within the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror assault on the Jewish state, by which the group killed 1,200 Israelis and took greater than 200 hostages. Some 58 hostages stay in captivity at the moment.
However, Mamdani has referred to as the onslaught in Gaza, which the Palestinian Well being Ministry reported has killed over 50,000 Palestinians as of March, a “genocide” on a number of events and urged the federal authorities to stop offering Israel with army assist. The Meeting member’s views have drawn harsh rebukes from many Jewish elected officers and organizations throughout town, who’ve accused him of being antisemitic.
Cuomo, the front-runner within the mayor’s race, has additionally blasted Mamdani, together with different opponents, as antisemitic for both being important or not supportive sufficient of Israel. In the meantime, he has positioned himself because the candidate who would most successfully fight rising antisemitism as mayor.
Mamdani has insisted that he would additionally fight antisemitism as mayor by his proposal to ascertain a “Department of Community Safety” charged with tackling hate crimes. He stated he would improve funding for “proven anti-hate crime programming” by 800%.
When requested whether or not the pro-Palestine motion ought to bear accountability for the current rise in antisemitism within the metropolis and throughout the nation, Mamdani stated Monday that he promotes “non-violence.”
“My politics is rooted in a politics of non-violence, the belief that a world of justice and safety and liberty is one where we have to have consistency applied to all,” Mamdani stated. “As I say this, I speak to Jewish New Yorkers who have told me that they have started to lock their doors, where before they never did, who have told me that they have gone to synagogue and heard the door open and look back, not knowing who it may be. And what they deserve is to be protected. What they deserve is safety.”
