Zohran Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji apologizes for the ‘harmful’ social media posts she made as a teen
NEW YORK (AP) — Rama Duwaji, wife of New York City Mayor Zohran MamdaniHe apologized for “harmful” social media posts he made in his youth and issued a public response after a conservative news organization scanned his online profiles and resurfaced his materials, including a post in which he used an anti-gay slur.
In an interview with the art website Hyperallergic, DuwajiThe illustrator stated that he was “very ashamed to encounter language that is so damaging to others” and added, “Being 15 years old does not excuse this.”
“Having read and seen much of what others have said in response, I understand the hurt I have caused and I am truly sorry,” he said. reportIt was released Wednesday in response to a question about adjusting to life as a public figure.
Duwaji did not specify which comments he was referring to, nor did he address other more recent social media activity related to Israel that Mamdani sought to explain. ease worries Among some members of the city’s Jewish community for their criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Last month, The Washington Free Beacon reported on years of Duwaji’s online activity on a handful of social media platforms and found that she shared posts praising Palestinian female militants who participated in hijackings and bombings in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 2015, he shared a post in which someone else wrote that Tel Aviv was occupying Palestinian territory and “should not exist.”
Duwaji also once used a racial slur for Black people while affectionately addressing a friend, and in 2013 he used a shortened slur for gays.
The mayor has previously said his wife is a “private person” who has no official role at City Hall. Asked on Thursday what specific posts she regretted from her husband, Mamdani denied the objection.
“He shared some of his thoughts in this interview. I won’t add too much to them, but I will say that he is a person of incredible integrity,” Mamdani told reporters.
He added that questions about Duwaji’s social media activities were “part and parcel” of his choice to run for mayor, “a decision that had consequences for my loved ones.”
Separately, Duwaji also faced criticism for liking an Instagram post cheering Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The Free Beacon also reported that Duwaji provided an example for an article by a writer who called the October 7 attack “spectacular” and called Jewish Israelis “rootless soulless ghouls.”
Mamdani had previously said that her husband had been commissioned by a third party to illustrate an excerpt from a book, that he had never met or met with the author, and that Duwaji had not seen the author’s previous comments. He called the author’s rhetoric “clearly unacceptable” and “reprehensible”.
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AP writer Jake Offenhartz contributed
