Trump’s Path of Destruction Is Far-Reaching

Opinion|Trump’s Path of Destruction Is Far-Reaching

This week, I have a few observations.

On the New York Mayoral Race

Here’s what Mayor Eric Adams of New York, endorsing the former governor, Andrew Cuomo, had to say about the prospect of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, in Gracie Mansion:

“New York can’t be Europe, folks,” Adams said. “Those Islamic extremisms that are burning churches in Nigeria, that are destroying communities in Germany, that have taken over the logical thinkings. And that’s what I’m fighting for,” he continued.

Cuomo, too, has indulged anti-Muslim prejudice as the city’s mayoral campaign enters its final leg. On Thursday, for example, he chuckled as the radio host Sid Rosenberg called Mamdani a “terrorist.” “God forbid, another 9/11. Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?” Cuomo asked. “He’d be cheering,” Rosenberg replied.

This came after Cuomo’s campaign was criticized for releasing — and then quickly deleting — an A.I.-generated video that depicted a New York under siege from kaffiyeh-wearing criminals.

Overall, one of the stories of Mamdani’s bid to run the nation’s largest city is the open and explicit Islamophobia of both opponents and people who are, ostensibly, on his side. Over the summer, for example, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York falsely accused Mamdani of making “references to global jihad” for which she had to apologize. And Republicans, such as Representative Elise Stefanik, have called Mamdani, who is vocally pro-Palestinian, a “a full-blown jihadist.”

It is worth saying, on that last point, that Mamdani is more aligned with the voting base of the Democratic Party than most of its leaders in Congress. As Y.L. Al-Sheikh observes in a piece for The Nation, “Two years of genocide in Gaza and intensified apartheid across the rest of occupied Palestine have severely degraded the public’s perception of U.S. support for Israel.”

According to the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Democrats have a negative view of the Israeli state, and according to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, nearly 60 percent of Democrats believe that Israel is intentionally killing civilians in Gaza.