Council Member Vickie Paladino has stood by controversial feedback calling for the deportation of Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani after a number of Queens elected officers rebuked the Republican Council Member for “xenophobic” feedback.
Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and a candidate within the mayoral election, mentioned Tuesday that Paladino’s feedback have been a mirrored image of “Donald Trump’s authoritarian administration” after Paladino questioned Mamdani’s pathway to US citizenship in a publish on X on Monday evening.
Quoting a publish from October 2019, Paladino highlighted that Mamdani had said he was unable to vote within the 2016 presidential election as a result of he was not but a U.S. citizen. Paladino argued that it’s “insane” for somebody who has not been a citizen for ten years to hunt main public workplace and went on to name for Mamdani’s deportation.
“Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a US citizen for ten years, much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about. Deport,” Paladino wrote in a publish on X, previously referred to as Twitter.
In a subsequent publish, Paladino described Mamdani’s path to citizenship as “sketchy to say the least.”
On Tuesday, Paladino posted {a photograph} of a t-shirt bearing the slogan “Deport Zohran” alongside the caption “New Merch Drop?”
Mamdani condemned the feedback in an announcement Tuesday, stating that requires his deportation go far past inflammatory language.
“This isn’t just hateful rhetoric — it’s a reflection of what happens when Donald Trump’s authoritarian administration is allowed to shove New Yorkers into unmarked vehicles, tear our communities apart and spit in the face of the Constitution,” Mamdani mentioned in an announcement, referencing ICE raids in New York Metropolis throughout the Trump administration.
Mamdani additionally mentioned he has confronted loss of life threats and Islamophobic assaults concentrating on his household since asserting his candidacy for mayor.
A number of elected officers throughout Queens and New York Metropolis, together with Mamdani’s opponents within the ongoing mayoral race, have additionally criticized Paladino for the feedback.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos, for instance, described Paladino’s feedback as xenophobic, including that “real New Yorkers” have fun variety.
“Real New Yorkers reject xenophobia and celebrate our diversity. Immigrants deliver our food, build our homes, help us raise our children, tend to our parents—and yes, some run for office. That’s not a threat. That’s the United States of America,” Ramos mentioned, quoting Paladino’s publish.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, one other candidate for mayor, mentioned Paladino’s feedback have “no place in our city,” describing the rhetoric as “dangerous and unacceptable.”
“Council Member Paladino should remember that she was elected to represent every resident of her Council District and has a responsibility to her constituents and this city to represent them all,” Adams mentioned.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo additionally criticized Paladino’s feedback, stating that the “Republicans’ answer to everything, including the common cold, is deportation,” in line with New York Instances journalist Emma Fitzsimmons.
Mayor Eric Adams said that he wouldn’t particularly condemn Paladino’s feedback and referred to as on everybody to “tone down” their rhetoric.
Former Metropolis Comptroller Scott Stringer, who can also be operating for mayor, mentioned calls to deport an elected official “because you disagree with him” is harmful rhetoric. He additionally described Paladino’s feedback as “un-American” and referred to as on her to apologize.
“Vickie Paladino should apologize—and New York Republicans should denounce her shameful and hateful rhetoric. More and more, Republicans’ response to disagreement is deportation. It’s absurd and horrifying,” Stringer mentioned in a publish on X.
Paladino, nonetheless, launched an announcement standing by her feedback.
She famous that Mamdani has “clearly achieved US citizenship and is not eligible for deportation,” however mentioned the “fact remains” that he would have been faraway from the US earlier than acquiring his citizenship underneath the Trump Administration.
Paladino mentioned Mamdani has based a chapter of the College students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group, which she labeled as a “Hamas-adjacent” group that disseminates “terror propaganda.” Mamdani is a co-founder of the Bowdoin Faculty chapter of the group.
There is no such thing as a direct proof of any monetary or organizational ties between SJP and Hamas, though critics have accused the group of antisemitic language and rhetoric that mimics that of Hamas.
Paladino criticized Mamdani for failing to disavow SJP and mentioned his mayoral marketing campaign underscored the “crucial need” of the Trump Administration’s deportation program.
“Zohran Mamdani and his supporters are a plague on our politics,” Paladino wrote in an announcement. “His radical agenda, laced with antisemitism, Marxism, and anti-Americanism, has gained traction with the very segment of our city that’s been responsible for years of chaos and violence against our Jewish community.”
Paladino mentioned her workplace has been “inundated” with threats from Mamdani supporters since she referred to as for Mamdani’s deportation within the unique publish on Monday evening, stating that she now has police stationed at her workplace and her house for her safety.
Some elected officers described Paladino as un-American for calling for Mamdani’s deportation, together with State Sen. Mike Gianaris, who accused Paladino of “clowning herself” together with her unique publish.
“If the standard is deporting citizens who hate America, I nominate you for deportation since you hate free speech, due process and immigrants,” Gianaris wrote on X.
Council Member Tiffany Cabán, in the meantime, described requires Mamdani’s deportation as “straight out of the fascist playbook,” including that Paladino’s feedback have been “disgusting.”
“A GOP Council Member called to deport Zohran Mamdani. Zohran is a US citizen and duly elected official. Threatening political opponents with deportation is straight out of a fascist playbook. It’s how hateful cowards respond to a multi-racial, working class movement. Disgusting,” Cabán wrote.
State Sen. Julia Salazar, representing District 18 in Northern Brooklyn, described Paladino’s feedback as “heinous,” “shameful,” and “unconstitutional.”
“Didn’t you take your oath of office to uphold the Constitution?” Salazar said.
