The Media Research Center’s ongoing Mamdani meltdown continued in a June 30 post by Tim Graham:
On Sunday night, [Omar] Jimenez was guest-hosting on CNN and the topic was socialist New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and he tried to pull that euphemistic routine on Mamdani outlining his proposal to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.” He had to ahem, rephrase Scott Jennings, and Jennings told him he needed to read it again.
Jennings talked about the “whiter” thing, saying “he wants to tax people based on their race, which is one of the most radical things I’ve ever heard” and denounced Mamdani’s “hateful radical socialism.” As the segment wrapped up, Jimenez felt he had to “jump in” for what sounded like a “fact check,” although he admitted Jennings wasn’t misquoting Mamdani. “Point of order,” he claimed.
Graham went on to gush over how “Jennings took Mamdani apart before Jimenez tried to claim he wasn’t race-obsessed.”
Joseph Vaquez spent a post ranting about one specific Mamdani proposal:
CNN always wants to say left-wing radicals are less radical than you think, according to “some experts.” They’re never going to perform that trick for conservatives. CNN reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn attempted to mainstream socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s demented push for government-owned grocery stores.
As if anyone needed another reason to make like a banana and split from the decrepit Big Apple.
Meyersohn celebrated Mamdani’s lunatic “plan to create a network of city-owned grocery stores” in a June 30 so-called news item. Meyersohn gaslighted readers by claiming Mamdani’s state-run supermarket was “less radical than critics portray,” according to “experts” he found to make his point.
Vazquez went on to rant that the proposal was “another freebies-and-handouts idea from an admitted socialist that will involve making NYC’s tax burden even worse.”
Ashley Taylor complained that the nature of right-wing meltdowns over Mamdani was pointed out:
On Sunday’s The Weekend: Primetime, MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin suggested that Mamdani was being unfairly targeted by critics on the right because of his Muslim faith and his cultural identity. “There is a double standard,” he said, nodding to Mamdani’s supposed persecution and labeling criticism of the assemblyman as “vulgar” and “ugly.”
Leave it up to an MSNBCer to make an accusation and hide behind not backing it up. Mohyeldin hinted at that Islamophobia was what drove the criticism of Mamdani, he even suggested he a had a bunch of evidence but didn’t want to go into it:
[…]Mamdani’s “standing up” for free speech is not the political gold-star MSNBC wants you to believe it was. The comment refers to Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the anti-Semitic phrase “globalize the intifada”, which has been used to encourage terrorist attacks and violence against Jewish people across the world all under the guise of “protecting free speech”. In an interview on MSNBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday, he claimed he does not want to infringe on free speech, in an attempt to separate himself from President Trump, who he called authoritarian and claimed was jailing journalists.
This criticism was by no means based on the Mamdani’s Muslim faith, but rather his refusal to separate himself from extremist rhetoric and groups. Republicans weren’t the only ones critiquing him.
Taylor failed to explain what, exactly, is “anti-Semitic” about the phrase “globalize the intifada.” Meanwhile, her employer has been silent about the anti-Semitism of Candace Owens, particularly her use of the phrase “Christ is king,” which was clearly anti-Semitic in context. Taylor then tried to put some right-wing spin on all this:
The left’s attempt to shield Mamdani from criticism by invoking Islamophobia was part of a broader pattern in progressive politics: use identity as armor, and label dissent as bigotry.
The double standard here wasn’t being applied to Mamdani, it’s being created by his defenders. No other elected official could maintain visible ties to groups associated with any form of terrorism, left or right, without serious media scrutiny. But when Mamdani did it, outlets like MSNBC fall over themselves to suggest the backlash is due to his religion.
Taylor was silent about how, by that same standard, her employer is arguably associated with terrorism because MRC founder Brent Bozell defended his son’s participation in the Capitol riot.
In the MRC’s fourth Mamdani-centric post of the day, Graham spent his June 30 podcast obsessing over him:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped into socialist New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Monday, and Mediaite editor Colby Hall just couldn’t figure out why she would attack this new radical face of the Democratic Party. He even failed to identify him as a mayoral candidate, saying he “isn’t even in Congress yet.”
[…]It’s amazing that Hall cannot see the opportunity here for the Trump White House to pin Mamdani’s radicalism on the Democratic Party in general, or even specifically on the New York Democrats, which include Senate Minority Leader Schumer and House Minority Leader Jeffries.
Graham then groused that “Hall wants to pretend you can’t pin anti-semitism on Mamdani,” but he offers no evidence that Mamdani’s criticism of Israel is exactly the same as anti-Semitism.