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A proposed flier from a super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid featured an image of Zohran Mamdani with a thicker beard. Mr. Mamdani called the manipulation Islamophobic.
June 12, 2025Updated 4:47 p.m. ET
Hours before the final debate in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo released a new television advertisement on Thursday seeking to contrast his experience and reputation as a hardened negotiator with those of his main rival, Zohran Mamdani.
But it was a separate campaign mailer on behalf of Mr. Cuomo that drew the most attention, even if it was — according to the group that created it — never sent out.
The mailer was put together for Fix the City, a super PAC supporting Mr. Cuomo’s campaign, and featured a photo of Mr. Mamdani that appeared to have been altered to make his beard look darker and thicker.
A mock-up of the mailer was posted to social media on Wednesday by a reporter for The Forward, a New York-based Jewish publication. It included assertions that Mr. Mamdani “rejects Jewish rights” and Israel.
“The mailer was proposed by a vendor; upon review it was immediately rejected for production and was subsequently corrected,” Liz Benjamin, a spokeswoman for the PAC, said. “We are disturbed that this was posted online without our consent.”
Mr. Mamdani argued that the image manipulation was Islamophobic.
“Thickening and darkening my beard — playing into racist tropes — was meant to make me look threatening, because Andrew Cuomo and the donors propping up his flailing campaign are scared,” Mr. Mamdani said.
