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The Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday slammed what he called “ugly Islamophobia” sweeping New York City’s mayoral race, accusing some of labeling every Muslim a terrorist in order to attack Democrat candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Sharpton, an MSNBC host and progressive activist, was speaking at an event he was hosting for Mamdani in Harlem, and the mayoral candidate was throwing jabs too — accusing President Donald Trump of smearing and gutting welfare programs. The Democratic socialist drew parallels to the Reconstruction-era agency created to help newly freed slaves to hammer home his point.
The pair were joined by Pastor Miles Travis Boyd, whose mother perished on 9/11, as well as other faith leaders.
“I am outraged at the ugly Islamophobia that has been used in this campaign to act as though every Muslim is a terrorist and to act like something ugly, as what happened to us on 9/11 is an insult to the intelligence of all New Yorkers,” Sharpton said to a lively crowd at the House of Justice, his National Action Network headquarters.
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“If you can’t get a vote on your record, don’t play us against each other,” he added.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced criticism from Mamdani after Cuomo’s exchange with radio host Sid Rosenberg, who claimed Mamdani would be “cheering” if another 9/11 happened. Cuomo had argued during the segment that Mamdani was unprepared to lead the city in a time of crisis.
After Sharpton’s remarks on Saturday, Cuomo denied accusations of Islamophobia and said comments from Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov — who has endorsed him and has been accused of making inflammatory statements — were hers alone. Cuomo, in turn, accused Mamdani of fueling division and antisemitism for allegedly refusing to denounce calls for an “intifada” and for making past statements he described as offensive toward Jews.
Sharpton also argued on Saturday that just showing up at someone’s campaign or shaking their hand doesn’t mean you share blame for whatever they’ve been accused of. Sharpton was likely referencing a meeting Mamdani had last week with Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam who is an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and who has been linked to other terrorist activity in the United States.
Sharpton went on to say that he denounced both the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
“I’m against Islamophobia. But to bring it into the politics of the biggest city in the world should not be allowed to go unchecked,” Sharpton said. “We are not going to sit by silently while they do this. We are Christian. I’m a born-again Baptist, but I embrace the Muslim community to come from the shadows. The Jewish community to come from the shadows. And let’s walk down Broadway together.”
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He then pitched his flag in Mamdani’s corner after telling the audience that Mamdani was the only candidate who turned up to their events.
“For fairness, for affordability, for those who’ve been victimized — I bring you the candidate who showed up, Zohran Mamdani,” Sharpton said, shaking Mamdani’s hand as the crowd cheered and clapped in approval.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, came under fire from Mamdani after Cuomo’s exchange with radio host Sid Rosenberg, who claimed Mamdani would be “cheering” if another 9/11 happened. Cuomo had argued during the segment that Mamdani was unprepared to lead the city in a time of crisis.
Mamdani followed Sharpton’s remarks with a speech invoking America’s Reconstruction era, accusing Trump of gutting modern welfare programs, saying they represented today’s version of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The agency provided relief, education, and helped reunite families of enslaved people and poor whites in the post-Civil War South.
“If the Freedmen’s Bureau existed today, Donald Trump would pilfer its coffers and smear it as socialist overreach,” Mamdani said. “He would do to it what he has done to SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid, to any program that dares to uplift the poor rather than comfort the wealthy.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Mamdani said his campaign was rooted in moral and economic renewal stretching from Harlem to Queens to Bay Ridge.
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“Over the past 12 months, my friends, we have built a movement around creating a society we would all like to see a society where the poor receive aid, where those who work long nights are set free in the day where injustice is banished from our city and where faith is restored in City Hall,” Mamdani said.
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