Rep. Elise Stefanik on Wednesday accused New York Gov. Kathy Hochul of staying silent after New York City mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani signaled support for Palestinian activist Aber Kawas in a Queens Assembly race, arguing Hochul “owns” the move because she endorsed Mamdani’s mayoral bid.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, now a declared candidate for governor, castigated Gov. Kathy Hochul over what she called the governor’s “cowardly” silence after mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani threw his support behind Aber Kawas in a Democratic primary for New York’s 34th Assembly District in Queens. In a statement reported by the Daily Wire, Stefanik said Hochul “endorsed Mamdani and now owns his latest public endorsement of radical activist Aber Kawas,” whom she labeled a “terrorist sympathizer,” and demanded Hochul condemn the move.
Hochul, who publicly backed Mamdani’s mayoral run earlier this year, has faced sustained criticism from New York Republicans over that endorsement. Pressed on her ties to the Democratic Socialists of America, Hochul recently insisted she does not support the DSA even as she urged New Yorkers to support the incoming mayor, according to the New York Post. Her office has not issued a specific statement on Mamdani’s support for Kawas.
Mamdani’s support for Kawas emerged during a closed‑door DSA meeting, where a transition adviser described his intention to back her, according to reporting in the New York Post. Conservative outlets including the Washington Free Beacon further quoted a Kawas adviser as telling the meeting that running a Palestinian Arab candidate would “draw the fire of the Israeli lobby” and that “we did it with Zohran.” Those remarks could not be independently verified by mainstream outlets.
Kawas has drawn scrutiny for past comments about the September 11, 2001 attacks. Video clips circulating online show her saying during a 2017 panel that the attacks were a “manifestation” of a longer trajectory tied to “the system of capitalism and racism, and white supremacy … and Islamophobia.” Critics say the phrasing blames America for the murders of nearly 3,000 people; supporters argue she was criticizing U.S. policy, not justifying terrorism. Multiple outlets, including the New York Post and BizPac Review, highlighted the remarks after Mamdani’s endorsement. Separately, conservative publications have surfaced old social‑media posts in which Kawas praised or defended figures convicted in terrorism‑related cases, including Fahad Hashmi and Ahmed Ferhani; those posts have not been independently authenticated by major New York dailies.
Mamdani, a DSA member, has faced his own backlash over language and associations. He has declined to condemn the protest slogan “globalize the intifada,” drawing public rebukes from Jewish groups and elected officials; the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has warned that the phrase is associated with antisemitic violence and urged leaders to reject it. Mamdani also appeared at a mosque event with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a prominent Brooklyn cleric whom prosecutors once named as an unindicted co‑conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Wahhaj has previously urged a nonviolent “jihad” in New York City in the context of mass mobilization; his presence on the campaign trail prompted criticism reported by the New York Post and others.
The political stakes in Queens are immediate. Assembly Member Jessica González‑Rojas, who represents the heavily Latino 34th District and is a member of NYC‑DSA, is running for state Senate. Her former chief of staff, Brian Romero, has launched a bid to succeed her in the Assembly and has been praised by González‑Rojas, who has said she would consider endorsing him pending NYC‑DSA’s process, according to City & State and QNS. The 34th District is majority or near‑majority Hispanic by population, Census‑based tallies show, a fact Romero’s supporters say underscores his neighborhood ties. Kawas’s backers counter that her candidacy would elevate Palestinian representation amid the ongoing war in Gaza and its reverberations in city politics.
Stefanik’s attack on Hochul is the latest volley in a broader fight over how New York Democrats navigate Israel‑Hamas‑related controversies and the left’s growing influence in city politics. While her charge that Hochul “owns” Mamdani’s endorsement is a political conclusion, the governor’s prior support for Mamdani’s mayoral campaign is a matter of record. Whether Hochul will specifically address Mamdani’s backing of Kawas remains to be seen.
