New York mayoral candidate accuses Cuomo donors of ‘blatant Islamophobia’ after ‘photo-shopped’ campaign ad
13 June 2025, 14:46
New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has accused Andrew Cuomo’s donors of altering his beard in an image sent to voters, calling it “blatant Islamophobia”.
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New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has accused Andrew Cuomo’s donors of altering his beard in an image sent to voters, calling it “blatant Islamophobia”.
Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani says disgraced New York Governor and tenuous frontrunner Andrew Cuomo’s SuperPAC Fix the City digitally altered his face in an image they sent to voters.
A SuperPAC is a type of fundraising committee, often composed of wealthy corporate donors and corporations raising money to support political candidates.
Mamdani shared the two photos side by side on X, highlighting that his beard looks significantly darker and longer in the photo sent to voters by Cuomo’s donors.
“Andrew Cuomo is afraid he'll lose, so his donors want you to fear me,” the 33-year-old progressive wrote on X, adding: “His SuperPAC just sent out a mailer that artificially lengthened and darkened my beard.
“This is blatant Islamophobia—the kind of racism that explains why MAGA billionaires support his campaign.”
Andrew Cuomo is afraid he'll lose, so his donors want you to fear me.
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 12, 2025
His SuperPAC just sent out a mailer that artificially lengthened and darkened my beard.
This is blatant Islamophobia—the kind of racism that explains why MAGA billionaires support his campaign. pic.twitter.com/5nqWKnbKy9
The mailer, first revealed by the Forward, was aimed at Jewish voters. It accuses Mamdani of not recognising Israel as a Jewish state, which suggests he ‘rejects Jewish rights’ according to the mailer.
This is likely a reference to a debate in which Mamdani said he believes “Israel has the right to exist, as a state with equal rights,” when asked if he believes in Israel as a Jewish state.
A spokesperson for Fix the City, Liz Benjamin, reportedly said that the version of the mailer Mamdani criticised had not been released.
“The mailer was proposed by a vendor; upon review it was immediately rejected for production and was subsequently corrected,” she said.
She added: “We are disturbed that this was posted online without our consent.”
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The image was revealed just as polls began showing Mamdani edging in front of Cuomo in the race, after months of Cuomo polling overwhelmingly ahead of the other candidates.
If Mamdani, the youngest candidate in the running at 33, does come out on top at the primaries and wins the general election in November, he will become New York City’s first-ever Muslim mayor.
Meanwhile, 67-year-old Andrew Cuomo - the oldest candidate - has significantly more political experience than Mamdani, which he likes to remind voters of.
He was secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton, attorney general of New York, and governor of New York.
He resigned in 2021, after 11 women filed sexual harassment claims against him. He was also caught in another scandal about nursing home deaths related to his Covid policies.
Cuomo is the candidate widely supported by corporate interests, receiving $3.9 million (£2.8 million) in direct donations, as well as his $13 million (£9.6 million) SuperPAC.
The largest donor in the SuperPAC is Doordash, the food delivery company - which Mamdani says is “a clear effort to influence labor and street safety regulations.”
As the mayoral race heats up, it remains unclear which of the two will come out on top.