New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has defended his wife, Rama Duwaji, following a report that pointed to her previous social media activity.
The Jewish Insider article from earlier today describes how Duwaji liked an Instagram post from October 7, 2023, the day following the terror attack and hostage-taking in Israel by Hamas.
Read more: Mamdani criticized for calling US-Israel strikes on Iran an ‘illegal war’
What are the posts that Duwaji liked according to the report?
According to the report, the post called the people of Gaza “isolated and segregated, intentionally kept in poverty,” and it hailed the day’s actions as “breaking the walls of apartheid.”
Duwaji liked the post over a year and a half before her marriage to Mamdani. It referred to Hamas’ actions as “resistance” against Israel, writing in the caption, “If and when the occupation forces retaliate against this resistance, this is the population who will be punished.”
On that same day and the following day, Duwaji also liked posts that used the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which is frequently used in pro-Palestinian activities and is criticized by many Jewish organizations for allegedly calling for the destruction of Israel.
Duwaji openly supports Palestine and has been in the public eye lately, participating in interviews, posing for pictures, and making an appearance on the digital cover of New York Magazine in late December.
She has recounted during her profile with the New York Magazine that she hasn’t had the privacy she enjoyed ever since her husband ran for the Mayor of New York City.
She said, “I realized that it was not just his thing but our thing. I wasn’t necessarily offended, but it was more the perception of being seen as someone’s wife. I was spiraling about how, that night, the first article to come out was like, ‘Who Is Zohran Mamdani’s Wife?’ Blah, blah, blah, blah.”
Read more: Mamdani ripped by Iranian New Yorkers over ‘illegal war’ remark: ‘Human garbage’
“My wife is the love of my life and…a private person”
Mamdani was confronted during an unrelated conference in the Bronx about the Jewish Insider report.
The 34-year-old addressed the controversy and told the reporters that his wife is not a public official and should not be treated as one, emphasizing that he alone bears political accountability as mayor.
“My wife is the love of my life and she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall,” he said.
He further elaborated, saying, “I however was elected to represent all eight and a half million people in the city and I believe that it’s my responsibility because of that role to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions.”
