>> From WXXI news.

This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made with the election of Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race.

Mamdani beat Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who picked up the endorsement of President Trump.

Cuomo fashioned himself as the safe choice in the race and Mamdani the dangerous one in the end.

Mamdani won easily for Muslim Americans.

This election is a powerful one.

Mamdani speaks often of his faith.

He has promised to stand up against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination.

And yet that didn't stop some of the campaign against him on the grounds that he will not protect all New Yorkers, or even that he would welcome violence of some kind.

Late in the campaign, Cuomo went on the radio program of conservative host Sid Rosenberg of Wabc.

Rosenberg had already called Mamdani a terrorist, and then Cuomo and Rosenberg had this exchange.

>> Any given morning, there's a crisis and people's lives are at stake.

God forbid another 9/11.

Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat and.

>> He'd be cheering.

>> Well, it's another.

>> Problem.

>> but can you imagine that?

>> That's Andrew Cuomo tacitly endorsing the idea that Zohran Mamdani not Mamdani would cheer another 9/11.

Now that Mamdani has won, Republicans are promising two things.

First, they're going to try to tie Mamdani to every Democrat running everywhere in the country because they think the average American is scared of Mamdani.

And second, they're going to try to block Mamdani from taking office at all.

Here's Politico reporting, quote, after Zohran Mamdani handily won the New York City mayoral election, becoming the city's first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, mayor elect Republican detractors in Washington, D.C.

said they will try to stop him from taking office.

President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold federal funds to New York City if Mamdani won, lent credence to misleading questions about Mamdani citizenship and falsely accused the Ugandan born 34-year-old of being a communist.

And some Republican lawmakers requested investigations into Mamdani naturalization process and have called for stripping him of his United States citizenship and deporting him, accusing him without evidence of embracing communist and terrorist activities.

End quote.

Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee said, quote, if Mamdani lied on his naturalization documents, he doesn't get to be a citizen, and he certainly doesn't get to run for mayor of New York City.

A great American city is on the precipice of being run by a Communist who has publicly embraced a terroristic ideology, end quote.

And Congressman Randy Fine of Florida said, quote, the barbarians are no longer at the gate.

They're inside.

And Mamdani having just moved here eight years ago, is a great example of that end quote.

How do those statements land in your ears?

Do they sound like the reasonable response of lawmakers or something else?

Remember that the Republicans barely attempted to compete in the New York City mayoral election, and obviously they didn't feel like they had the voter rolls to win, but they were outsiders.

But now they want to intervene from Washington to block the winner, calling him un-American.

My guest this hour is the former president of the Islamic Center of Rochester, who has a lot to say about all of these matters.

Sareer Fazili, welcome back to the program.

Nice to have you, sir.

>> It's nice to be here again.

Thank you.

Evan.

>> I want to start and I want to listen one more time to what Cuomo said, because the audio isn't great here, but I want people to hear it because after this happened in late October, the Cuomo campaign came out and denied that Andrew Cuomo had said that Zohran Mamdani would cheer another 9/11.

And I want you to listen for yourself to the exchange between Rosenberg and Cuomo on Rosenberg's radio show.

>> Any Given Morning, there's a crisis, and people's lives are at stake.

God forbid another 9/11.

Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat and.

>> He'd be cheering.

>> It's another.

>> Problem.

>> but can you imagine that?

>> Okay.

What do you hear there?

Sareer Fazili?

>> I hear sickening sounds and thoughts.

I hear a continuation of boorish behavior that led to the former governor's disgraceful exit from the governor's mansion.

I never thought that sitting in a chair like that, somebody could stoop so low.

but these days, I am surprised.

you know, they say about Western New York, if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes and it'll change.

This doesn't change, but I think what?

Mamdani Mamdani.

Excuse me.

Election things are going to change now.

>> So when?

First of all, by the way, do you take the Cuomo campaign saying, well, he didn't say he'd he'd cheer 9/11.

He certainly he kind of welcomed the statement and said, well, that's another problem.

I mean, to me, that's a tacit endorsement of the statement, isn't it?

>> He gave some some arguably quiet applause to that statement.

And it's and it's sickening.

that today so many years removed from, from those horrific events that it still is an issue when it comes to an election.

you know, the mayor elect was probably, you know, 7 or 8 years old when that happened, and they're tagging him with that, with that tag.

Now.

>> you can't speak for all Muslims.

Of course you're speaking for yourself.

You're the former president of the Islamic Center of Rochester.

But I do want to ask you generally what you think this election means to the American-muslim community.

>> I mean, saying that it's historic is such an understatement.

It's a shame I don't have better words.

it's not like the mayor elect has won the mayorship of a small town or a province, and is working his way up from some, you know, population of 1000 or 2000 people.

He has won an election with the Coalition of Brown, white, every nationality, every race.

He has shown America how to put together a coalition of the winning.

And he got people who have been overlooked and underserved and got them a victory.

And I think Muslims have such an example to look at.

It has lifted everybody because he has become the new example for people to follow.

I can't tolerate any more hearing this is too difficult.

This is too hard for us.

It's this.

The mayor elect, played by every rule he survived, every attempted assassination of his character, of his name, of his background, and he didn't just win.

He stomped his way home.

And this is one of one of the greatest things for the Muslim community across the country that we will ever see.

>> I want to also ask you, before we kind of move through some of the themes that I think were pretty prominent in the campaign after this campaign, as I mentioned, you've got Republicans in Congress now saying they're going to block if they can.

They're going to try to block this man from becoming mayor, because they're going to try to Randy Feinstein put him on the first plane back to Uganda.

And on the grounds that there was something inaccurate in his naturalization, which has been examined by a number of sources, not by me.

And nobody has found any credence to these claims.

But in your ears, when they talk about terroristic ideology and put them on a plane back to Uganda, what do you hear?

>> I just hear blatant, unbridled racism.

I hear nothing but, you know, backhands to the not just the Muslim community for a second.

That's in America, but to almost every immigrant in America.

You are telling me as an immigrant or even as a, as a as a born U.S.

citizen of, of a population that people don't seem to like or are uneducated about, that if we go beyond a certain point, somebody's going to dig into our past and try to send us home.

He came here as a seven or an 8-year-old, went to school here, has done very well for himself with his education and his background.

Won election as a member of the New York State Assembly, representing a district, and has done nothing but serve the people that elected him.

all he is doing is trying to serve the people, and somebody wants to dig into his background and deport him to Uganda.

I don't know what has happened to my country.

I as a lawyer, I have tremendous faith still in the courts, and I know what a what a what a tall climb it's going to be for somebody to try to strip him of his citizenship, et cetera.

but the fact of the matter is that people are talking about it as if it's a fait accompli.

It's something that's going to happen in the blink of an eye.

And that is very troubling to many of us, not just Muslims, but people who are regular, everyday citizens.

That that this is how the the game is trying to be played.

>> Now., part of why I welcome this conversation with you is frankly not because you can speak for all Muslim Americans, but because there's such interesting nuance here that I think gets elided in some of these conversations, because there are plenty of rather conservative Muslim Americans.

There are plenty of Muslim Americans with what we would call traditionally conservative values, culturally conservative values.

And they might be in a category of being very open to probably the Republican Party.

I grew up knowing, or less so the current iteration of it.

But but maybe conservative values and politics.

Is this going to affect some of those relationships.?

>> You know, I, I agree with you on one point.

I cannot speak for every Muslim.

Not to mention in Rochester, but across the country.

but I would hope that people would see the mayor elect for what he is, whether his politics are left, right or center.

He is one of them, and he is one of us.

And whatever he has done, he has done wearing his religion and his background not on his back but on his chest.

He has led with it.

And for every single immigrant, Muslim or otherwise, to be witness to his example, I don't know who would have the really the courage or I might say the shame to distance themselves from his election because they may not agree with him being a quote, unquote liberal or a socialist versus conservative, et cetera.

we are far beyond that at this stage of the game.

This election and this victory has demonstrated that not only do Muslims belong, they are literally at the heart of the conversations.

And the largest city, or at least one of them in America, New York City has a, you know, has a income and a budget larger than many independent countries.

And at the center of it is one of our own.

And I will own Zohran Mamdani as one of my own because he did it 34 years old, and I am going to sit and watch, and I'm going to offer whatever support I can.

And I'm going to hope that the people that identify as Muslims, and especially as immigrants, do the same because we need to support this.

>> Let me grab our first phone call.

It's from Jim in Rochester.

Hi, Jim.

Go ahead.

>> Hey, can you guys hear me?

Okay.

>> Yep.

Go ahead.

>> Hey, I can totally appreciate the the pride of, you know, Muslim being elected.

And like, I don't disagree with that at all.

I think it's wonderful, but I am curious of, like, the fact that he is a socialist Democrat.

Is that not concerning in any form or fashion?

I would think that you could look at the individual, but also look at his, you know, his views and his politics and separate them rather than just kind of, you know, just going like he's a muslim and this is fantastic.

Are there no concerns about his I guess, expected policies that he's going to be pushing?

>> Yeah, a fair question.

Jim.

And I think that that, by the way, is parallel to the to the conversation.

But but that's okay.

what do you think, sir?

>> I think if somebody wants to attack the mayor elect because they disagree on his theories of economics and finance, that's fair game.

We do it all the time.

We do it every single day.

Democrats or Republicans and vice versa.

When they start talking about he's cheering, he's going to cheer a repeat 9/11 attack or they start spending tens of millions of dollars to against him and painting him as some kind of a villain.

that has nothing to do with his theories on finance for a moment, that's where we have an issue.

you know, my family and I, we have a little bit of property in the city, and we pay taxes, and you know, do I want to pay more taxes?

No, of course I don't.

But for the larger population in New York City who are having a hard time finding a place to live, having a hard time finding a job and getting to that job having a hard time making ends meet.

What we've seen until today hasn't necessarily worked for them.

They're working multiple jobs, multiple gig workers in the city.

Everybody knows that.

I guess I'm at a point where I do want to see if any of his ideas, actually, if he can get them through his city legislature number one.

But number two, are they going to work?

And it it's it seems to me that the attack has not only been has first and foremost been on his immigrant and Muslim status.

And then they get to the finances and I'm happy to have a conversation about that.

>> The policy versus the person.

>> Versus versus that.

He's brown and a muslim and he doesn't fit.

And we got to get rid of him.

>> Yeah.

And to Jim, I would say it will be instructive in many ways to watch his time in office to see how successful he can be.

And one thing that I'm, you know, I would love to talk to him about if I could.

He said on election night that there is no problem too big for government to solve and no problem too small for government to care about.

And, you know, that's that makes a lot of people uncomfortable because I don't I think the history of this country demonstrates that there's plenty of problems small enough that government should stay out of and not care about, and there's plenty of problems big enough that government can't do it on its own.

And it seems kind of antithetical to some of the history.

And I would love to talk to Zohran Mamdani about that.

And so, Jim, I'm with you, that there are some very valid questions about what it means to try to govern in this way.

That's really, though, parallel to what Sareer Fazili and I are talking about.

This hour.

We are talking about what what brought this race home in the final weeks, which was just as much a push about.

This man has terroristic ideology, that allegation.

And here's another example of how the ostensible critique of his policies became personal and more smears about his identity.

So an example was a late stage Cuomo ad had a bunch of people I actually don't even know if it was actors or real people or human actors, but it was people who were, you know, they're talking about what Mamdani policies would do.

So Mamdani has talked about, you know, how he feels about misdemeanors vis a vis felonies and whether anyone should spend any prison time or whether misdemeanors should result in any criminal record.

And he's talked about, you know, especially at the height of the conversation about defunding the police.

So there is a record that I think is very valid to talk about.

But in the midst of this ad, one of the actors is a black man in a pharmacy, and he's looking at the camera and he says, Zohran Mamdani wants to make it so that shoplifting is no longer a crime.

And so then the guy turns to the shelf and starts grabbing up a bunch of stuff, and then he pulls a keffiyah over his face.

Why a keffiyah, right?

I mean, the first thing I thought when I saw this ad was like, if this was not a muslim candidate, would we see a different image?

What do you think?

Syria?

>> I'm going to have to agree with you.

Unfortunately why?

Because it has been painted as the source of all that's evil.

not just in the Middle East, but now here.

that's the one thing that people see, and and it makes them nervous.

I can't I cannot say enough.

I have lost my ability to speak.

Sometimes when I think about how low the state of politics has gone in 2020 or 2021, then President Trump and then Governor Cuomo couldn't even speak to each other.

They would talk at one another.

And I believe it was the day before or the day of this election when the president told New Yorkers to vote for his former.

>> Enemy.

Yeah, yeah.

>> yeah.

And I, I just shook my head.

And he said that a vote for his own Republican Party candidate was a wasted vote.

I, I cannot still understand what it is about the mayor elect that has brought on such a visceral hate.

and that's the word I don't like to use.

But that's what it is.

And it's a politics of fear.

That said, over a million voters voted for the mayor elect.

you know, on January 1st, Mayor Mamdani will be sworn in and he will take the seat, and then we can criticize him for whatever we want, when.

>> And we should.

>> And, well, we should.

Whether he doesn't spend the money the way we should, whether he taxes us too much, whether he has policies that, you know, rub New Yorkers the wrong way.

And by New Yorkers, I mean those that are in his electorate, not those of us sitting outside.

But I think the people that should be judging him the most are the people that he has sworn to serve and the people that put him in the seat.

>> My guest is Sareer Fazili, the former president of the Islamic Center of Rochester, talking about the election of Zohran Mamdani from the perspective of the Muslim community.

And Jim, thank you for the phone call.

And I want to encourage the audience.

We'd love to hear from you.

It's 844295 talk.

If you want to call the program toll free, 8442958255263 WXXI.

If you're in Rochester 2639994, you can email the program Connections at WXXI app.

And you know listener pointing out that the I say keffiyeh, keffiyeh the the image of that is meant to they think draw the attention of the conflict in Gaza.

And obviously Mamdani has had a lot to say about the Israeli government, about the treatment of Palestinians.

And he did not, in this campaign back down from that.

Now, he did make a point throughout this campaign to stand with people like Brad Landau, the actor Mandy Patinkin, a number of other Jewish Americans who have endorsed him and said that they are not only comfortable with him, but they would want him to win and that they would serve with him, and that they think he would serve all people at the same time.

You had conservative Jewish leaders, literally from the pulpit, from from the houses of worship, telling their audiences, you must not vote for Zohran Mamdani now, not that's not all Jewish leadership at all.

Not at all.

But it was such that even Jewish leadership in places like Rochester and beyond felt pressure to say something to their to their audiences.

And and so there was this tension.

Now, Mamdani has said he is going to protect all New Yorkers.

He is going to stand against discrimination of all New Yorkers.

He called out anti-Semitism a number of times, including on election night.

For some, that that is not enough.

They point to his past statements.

People are very still very, very concerned about his invoking of the term globalize.

The intifada.

So can you take me through how some you hear some of this and how that plays to you, sir?

>> if I look back at the mayors of New York City, whether they were kotch Spitzer, Dinkins, Bloomberg, this is the first time that I've had to hear how will a mayor defend or look after his citizens just because he is a muslim, whether they're Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, whatever?

It doesn't really matter.

And I have not seen anything in the mayor elect's background that tells me that he's going to open up special jails or start behaving in such a way to disenfranchize anybody of any religion that doesn't follow his own.

It's it's preposterous that we're having this conversation.

Quite frankly, I haven't seen any kind of a reaction across the world like I've seen here.

When it comes to the fact that this guy happens to be a muslim, whether he is even practicing or not, practicing or like everybody else, you know, following his religion the way he wants to follow it, the fact that he wears that tag has brought people out.

And as you said, not me speaking to the masses from the power of the pulpit saying, don't vote for this guy.

Everybody has the right to recommend a candidate or not recommend a candidate.

They're not supposed to do it in their houses of worship, but that's a different story.

but the fact of the matter is that Jewish Americans voted for the mayor, the mayor elect.

I don't want to jinx him.

And they supported him, and they came out for him.

Whether they were celebrities or whether they were regular New York citizens.

They cast their ballot not because I presume he's a muslim, or hopefully not because he's they didn't hopefully vote against him because he is a muslim.

But I think we are seeing people Jewish, not Jewish, et cetera., who voted for him because their conscience said, this is the guy for New York City.

So all of you people who are anti-Muslim and saying we shouldn't vote for him because specifically he is a muslim that doesn't play anymore.

>> Well, I think, again, I can't speak for anyone but myself.

I think that the Jewish leadership in New York City who spoke against Mamdani would say that they disagree with your characterization, that it isn't that they're opposing him just because he's a muslim.

They would say they're opposing him because he endorsed ideas like globalize the intifada from the river to the sea, and to them, those are anti-Semitic ideas.

Those are inherently dangerous ideas.

>> You know, the the term Semitic or Semite refers to people who speak or are of the Semitic languages.

Arabic happens to be a Semitic language, also, there is no monopoly on the use of the term Semite.

So if somebody says I'm anti-Semitic, I shouldn't be just painted with a brush that I'm against people who follow the Jewish faith.

That term applies to people all across the world, not just somebody being anti-Jewish.

The politics in the Gulf, whether it's Palestine, Gaza, Israel, et cetera.

I'm not sure how that became a relevant topic of debate for the mayor of New York City.

I don't think in the history of the mayor's mayor of New York City seat, that some candidates, religion or political beliefs, as far as what may be happening in a in a foreign land away, has become such a, such an issue.

My first loyalty, whether I'm a Kashmiri Muslim or a muslim American or whatever, is to the people of my state and my country, and that's the U.S.

And whether I am sympathetic to some my to my parents roots or my brethren's roots is a different story altogether.

But you are going to elect me for what I'm going to do in and for the city of New York, and there cannot be all of these tangential issues coming in to sling arrows at me.

It doesn't hold water anymore.

>> Is the term globalizing intifada?

Intifada, anti-Jewish?

>> It most certainly is not, because there are Jewish people themselves who have used that term, and I find it hard to call somebody who is Jewish, anti-Jewish.

>> So.

So what does it mean to you?

>> I think it just means when somebody says globalized intifada, the intifada was a struggle against the occupation.

And whatever the occupation is in Gaza, it's not because I say so.

It's because international organizations like the UN and other places have said it's an occupied territory.

So they can quote me.

I'm quoting the UN, and you saw on the streets of America, on the campuses of America, a globalization of the intifada.

And it wasn't anything having to do with being anti-Jewish religion.

Yes.

The protests against what was happening against the Israeli government, et cetera.

those were, at least as far as I can see.

And I'm concerned those were fair.

Those were First Amendment rights exercise of your freedom of speech.

But as far as being anti-Jewish individual or religion, absolutely not.

Categorically, I would deny it and I would condemn anybody who felt that they were engaging in that kind of behavior, because that's not what this is about.

>> And and then the phrase from the river to the sea, which some Jewish Americans, some Jewish people hear as not just end the oppression of Palestinian people, but end the state of Israel, destroy Jewish people.

>> Again, the thought of destroying the Jewish people at least to this speaker, is rather repugnant.

and as far as how someone else may choose to use that phrase or define it, I, as you said, I cannot speak for everybody.

In fact, I may not speak for anybody these days, but there will not be a time where somebody like me, or people who are like minded, would dream of saying that from the river to the sea has anything to do with wiping out the Jewish people.

That is not what we are all about.

>> When we come back from our only break of the hour, we're going to welcome some emails and feedback from listeners.

If you want to call the program, it's 844295 talk.

It's toll free.

8442958255263 WXXI.

If you're in Rochester, 2639994, email the program Connections at wxxi.org.

Join the chat if you're watching on YouTube and if you're on YouTube with us on the WXXI News channel, we hope you subscribe.

We'll come right back with former president of the Islamic Center of Rochester, Sareer Fazili.

Coming up in our second hour, a conversation about volunteering in America, the struggle that emergency responders are having because we see fewer volunteers and especially in small towns where emergency services might be cut, rural hospitals are struggling or closing.

Volunteers are more important than ever, but fewer Americans are doing it.

And we're going to talk about how one department is trying to grow its ranks when others are shrinking.

Next, our.

>> Justinian Wong's new novel is about how the survival of a patriarchy rests on the shoulders of women.

Wang says he drew inspiration from the women in his own life.

>> As I wrote this book, I fell back in love with my mom because I was like, she's brilliant.

>> I'm Ailsa Chang.

More on the new book Lucky Seed on All Things Considered from NPR news.

>> This afternoon at four.

>> This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson Rick emails the program to say, just like JFK, I remember when John F. Kennedy ran for president and his Roman Catholic faith was held against him.

He had to meet with a group of Protestant ministers in order to overcome an anti-Catholic bias.

What does Mamdani have to do in order to overcome the anti-Muslim bias?

That's from Rick.

>> I think if if I had an answer for that, then I would have I would have spread and shared that all across the country for the last 25 years.

I wish I had an answer.

but I think, honestly, he has answered that already and he's done it.

Nobody likes everybody.

And there are people, unfortunately, who don't like anybody.

He's a likable guy, at least on the camera.

He speaks very well.

He he definitely, you know, spiked the football on his victory speech.

you know, he dropped the mic a little bit there, too.

but he appeals to people and he can sit down.

He is willing to sit down with people and have conversations.

And I think in this day and age, that's really all we can do.

I know I can make every promise in the world I can offer, you know, the world, a rose garden.

I have to be able to deliver on it.

And it's it's this, you know, it's this dance that's going on with Muslim Americans in general.

And the mayor elect in particular.

With Jewish American organizations, some that are liberal, some that are conservative or whatever.

And I think he has enough support.

And even those people that are supporting him are going to have to answer some questions.

If, in fact, there's an issue tomorrow that gets raised.

But it's about communication.

And I have told people since way back in the day give me an opportunity to have a cup of coffee with you.

listen to what I have to say.

You might call me a liar, and that's fine.

but at least I'll have had my say.

You'll have had yours.

And if we can't agree, we can't agree.

Let my actions speak for me.

Don't just think that you already know what I'm going to say.

>> No, it's interesting what you're describing.

I happen to know you've been modeling for years in this city, with friends and with acquaintances and with strangers who don't share your faith.

Or maybe have big, deep suspicions of you.

Sometimes you have emerged from my understanding with a more of a friendship.

Sometimes at least more of an understanding.

And I think you're right to say that Zohran Mamdani has attempted to do the same throughout this campaign.

I think the difference with Rick here, I think Rick is pointing to a good historical analog.

I think that I think that what Rick is reminding us is that suspicion of other faiths is unfortunately part of the long history of the country.

The difference is for JFK, he didn't have to deal with this at a time of social media and the constant online world where you can't escape it, and there are so many different outlets that have to fill 24 hours a day.

And so they create these ongoing narratives that you just back in the day, it was okay.

This was sort of asked and answered and and people will decide.

And then you cover other things.

Now it's just this constant you're going to see Zohran Mamdani in ads against Democrats in Louisiana, in Tennessee and in Oregon.

I mean, it's going to be everywhere.

And I just think that the the technological age makes it different.

And I think that will make it more difficult for Mamdani to have the kind of healing that maybe JFK had with Protestants.

>> It like I said, it's it's going to take some time.

he won New York City.

He didn't win Rochester.

He didn't win Buffalo.

He didn't win Utica.

He won New York City.

And I think that will speak volumes.

You can see what happened in that.

Election.

across across the country people don't even talk about Ghazala Hashmi as the lieutenant governor of the state of Virginia.

Everybody is focused on the mayor of New York City.

They're forgetting that that there's another lady out there, too, that apparently everybody needs to be worried about and afraid of.

it's it's going to take some time.

And I think America has evolved.

The students as they come out, they're a lot more broad minded.

They're a lot more willing to listen.

I think there was news about a month ago about a horrible young Republicans chat.

Republican leaders across the country using horrific language about Jewish Americans, African Americans it's, you know, it's nauseating.

I think some of the focus needs to be away from how bad Muslims are.

And we kind of got to start looking at how bad some of these other people are, because I hate to say it, Muslim Americans in comparison, we're not that bad.

>> I'm going to grab a phone call from Shirley in just a second.

Let me just to cap Sarah's point, one thing that comes to mind for me, we talked about the bigoted chat among the young Republican group.

And again, that's kind of a misnomer.

These were 24 to 35-year-old Republicans.

One was a sitting state senator in Vermont.

Some had worked in pretty high levels of New York state government.

And Vice President JD Vance says these were just kids saying flippant things, and we shouldn't ruin their lives for it.

If this were a young Muslim, chat and they talked about gas chambers, the way that these young Republicans did, would the vice president have said, these are just kids making flippant remarks?

I think it's a fair question.

>> I don't think that that word flippant would have ever come out of his mouth.

I think he would have been calling for the speakers to go to the gas chambers if he would have, if those had been Muslim Americans, had they?

The remarks that they made about rape.

>> Yeah.

>> Were it seems as though some people are getting a pass, no matter how bad they are.

And 35 years old, I was already a father.

I was married at 26, I was married, I don't think I get a pass for that kind of language, that kind of behavior, that kind of thinking at any point, but especially at that point, especially when I'm in the upper echelons of a of a political party and having worked for the state.

>> So to be clear, what you're saying is, when Zohran Mamdani says globalize the intifada and then wants to explain what he means and people don't want to listen, and they want to say he's an anti-Semite, he's anti-Jewish.

Compared to a a bigoted chat among a series of Republican leaders in different states talking about gas chambers and the vice president says those are just kids.

You're saying that's all you need to see about the inconsistency?

>> I think it speaks volumes.

given given how somebody at the rank of the vice president of this country is trying to deflect what, what his own party members and leaders were doing.

>> let me grab Shirley on the phone next.

Hi, Shirley.

Go ahead.

>> Hi, Ivan.

Thank you for taking my call.

And I appreciate what the speaker is saying.

I think that I have two things to say.

I think that a lot of white folks and a lot of Jewish folks are nervous about number one losing power, losing influence.

And so they will come up with whatever rationale they can for demonizing Mamdani.

And I think they're just going to have to get over it.

It's not going to be easy, but they need to just give the man a chance to, to, to get into office and see how he can follow through on his promises.

And the second thing I want to say, I want to commend you, Evan, because you have a good habit of returning to questions that people do not answer.

That's that's a that's a loft.

Art, it seems that that interviewers will ask a question.

Someone might deflect.

Someone might totally ignore it, and you return to the question.

And I hope that others will take your example and begin to follow that.

Thank you very much, Shirley.

>> Thank you.

I don't know if she's accusing Syria of dodging any questions, but I would never let Syria off the hook with that.

You would never come in here and think that I'd let you off the hook?

>> Not at all.

Nor would I try to be let off the hook.

I apologize if I, if I.

>> No, no no, no.

And Shirley, thank you for that.

But I also the first part of her comment is that this, regardless of of what has led to this moment, there does simply has to be a moving on.

And she thinks people will have to get over it if they're not happy.

are you worried about in the in the future?

Are you worried that some of the vitriol that we've seen about identity will make it hard for either Mamdani to govern or even for for him to be a safe mayor?

I mean, are you worried about a safety?

>> I think people have been worried about his safety from the time that he started polling beyond five and 10% in a potential mayoral election I would hope that safety is a non-issue.

Obviously, like all elected officials, especially mayor of New York City, they have lots of, security.

I presume it'll be the same.

but I still I still see green grass in this country and especially in the state, more so in the city because they elected him.

I think he is going to be able to extend extend the branch, take his time, make some more friends.

And I think his background will ultimately will be a plus for him and not a minus.

>> Let me get back to emails on this.

Here's Peter who says, as a millennial that can agree with a lot of Mamdani policies, I feel that we do not focus on his most glaring issue.

His resume lacks any major political accomplishments outside of being elected that have resulted in a true positive changes, and he has no experience to prove he can provide changes at the scale he is calling for.

So why focus on his religious beliefs?

We want real change and he appears to be another face to promise that without any substance behind his words.

That's from Peter.

This is the kind of email that I think is a perfectly fair position to hold, whether you agree or not with Peter.

Peter is saying, get away from his religion, his identity, and then let's judge his resume and let's let's evaluate whether we think he can deliver.

Now, some voters are assuming he can deliver, and some, like Peter, think I don't see a lot of substance here, but that's perfectly fair, isn't it?

>> That is totally fair game.

I think if somebody had engaged him in a debate and said, you know, what have you really done?

And he was unable to defend his positions or whatever, and you wanted to vote against him?

Absolutely.

No problem.

We do that every day.

I couldn't agree more with that email.

>> Alex writes to say something I don't want to escape notice is who has embraced Zohran, not Schumer, not Jeffries.

Hochul, moderate Buffalonian Kathy Hochul.

She went to Bill's bars in Brooklyn with him the weekend before the election.

It's no secret she's facing a contentious election season in 2026.

She sees Zohran as the future of the Democratic Party and obviously believes in him enough to try and ride his coattails to reelection.

That's from Alex.

What do you think?

>> I think that that's a very astute observation.

your so-called statewide national level Democratic leadership were morbidly silent when it came to the question of if they would endorse the mayor elect.

I think even the governor took her time.

and then realized that this was the way to go.

And I think she made the right decision.

I can't put myself in her shoes and say why she thought that he was a good person to endorse.

Maybe it is for her own election that's to be seen in a year.

But the fact of the matter is that without major endorsements, I do believe that I read an article that even the former President Obama was in New York just a day or three before the election and was silent when asked about Zofran's chances and whether he had his endorsement, and he won anyway.

by over 100,000 votes.

so I think people need to realize that whether he is the face or the future of the Democratic Party is far too premature to say that.

But I think it is.

People are waking up to the fact that there are others out there other than the old guard establishment, that that will have a say going forward.

>> Sure.

And this is where I think, Alex, I would my own perspective is and I fall into this trap sometimes too.

We have conversations like, well, what do Republicans need to do next?

What do Democrats need to do?

And the answer is probably more understanding your electorate where you are.

Shahryar has said many times, Zohran Mamdani is going to be the mayor of New York City, not in New York State.

He's not the president of the United States.

People in Tennessee and Florida are not in New York City.

He's the mayor of New York City, which is heavily, heavily, heavily Democratic.

That is very unlikely to be the kind of politics that wins the swing state.

Although I could be wrong, but I don't think that you can automatically say that the shape of the New York City electorate will look like will turn Ohio back into a purple state.

If we just run like, Mamdani.

or if, if we do this or if Republicans say, if we just do that, you know, like another candidate, I think you have to really examine where people are and why.

And I think Democrats will do that.

Now, does Kathy Hochul think that this is a big part of the Democratic Party?

I don't think she would have been in Bill's bar if she didn't think that.

Zohran Mamdani has a big part of the future of this state's politics, right?

I mean, that's just obvious.

>> I think and I think that's that's rather clear.

It's you know, if she's trying to court support starting today for her reelection campaign and appealing to the people, to the same people who voted for the mayor so be it.

It's it's not just good for her.

It's good for the state.

Because New York City elected him.

As I said before, it wasn't a small town or a local village that he became mayor of.

It's New York City, and he speaks for a lot of his electorate.

He's going to be for the next four years.

and I think the governor, whether she made a political choice or otherwise, she could have she could have done a lot worse than by being seen with the with the mayor elect and engaging him and supporting him and and him doing her the favor by going with her.

>> All right back to your phone calls.

This is Bob in Webster.

Next.

Hello, Bob.

Go ahead.

>> Hello.

Good.

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

my comment was just that I view mayor elect Mamdani as a reaction of the voters to Trump and the Republicans with the big, beautiful bill giving tax breaks to billionaires and millionaires, whereas working people are having a hard time struggling my fear for Mr.

Mamdani is just like Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.. he was not tolerated, but he he things worked out up until he started working towards economic justice.

So I don't know how much Mayor Mamdani will be able to do by himself without a city council and without the state legislature towards towards economic justice down in New York City.

But I fear that this this tie in to the war on terror because the man happens to be of of Muslim religion, I fear that I fear for the man's safety and then for the police officers on his security detail around him.

and here it is.

Veteran's Day.

And yesterday was the 250th anniversary of the Marines.

I just wish all religions would just.

and all people would just remember thou shalt not kill.

So have a great day, everyone.

>> Thank you, thank you.

Bob.

That's a beautiful last sentiment.

I will say as the son of a veteran and someone who has plenty of veterans in my family lineage I just want to offer appreciation for veterans on Veterans Day.

And I think Bob's point about what veterans have fought for and tried to uphold is an important one.

I think when you think about what would make someone unsafe, there's been a lot of talk about after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

You even heard the leaders in The White House, the president, the vice president saying, you know, you can't call someone a fascist.

You can't say this or that.

We got to turn the temperature down.

Otherwise people are going to get killed.

And now you've got Republican members of Congress saying that Mamdani has terroristic sympathies, terroristic ideology, and is un-American.

I mean, it's like Charlie Kirk never happened.

And this is the man who was elected to be the mayor of New York City.

I it it doesn't take long for people to expose hypocrisy.

>> I think the rules are only are only being changed when people are allowed or or are speaking against Muslim Americans, then there are no rules.

The gloves come off.

>> Has it felt that way for you as a muslim for for a long time?

>> It's felt that way for a long time.

I thought it was getting better.

but every political issue, every criminal political issue, you name it, it comes up and, you know, I would hope that, the mayor elect's victory is not just a reaction to the new tax bill that was passed in Washington or what's going on.

I would hope that people gave some credence to his ideas and his theories on making things a little better for everybody.

Do I think that rich people should be taxed just because they're rich?

I got news for you.

I don't should people pay their fair share?

Absolutely they should.

However that's defined.

I guess that's what our elected leadership is for.

I don't know what quote, unquote terroristic sympathies are.

I think that word gets used every time there's a crime committed that's committed by people who have my background versus maybe your background.

Evan.

Yeah.

or many others.

and, you know, when there's some drama that happens somewhere, the first thing is it's not it's not thought to be a terrorist attack.

And I don't know, you know, I, I know what that means.

And everybody in my community knows what that means.

>> Means did a muslim do it?

>> That's exactly what it means.

And it's so unfortunate that that's where we are.

but it's okay, you know, it gives us more work to do, gives us more to engage on, gives us more to talk about.

gives us more to teach about.

and I think that is something that we will always do.

We always have more work to do.

And, you know, to to go back to it, the mayor elect's victory is a resounding opportunity for everybody that voted for him.

And then everybody who looks like him and shares his background and owns him.

To have the same opportunities to have those conversations.

Absolutely.

>> All right.

Barry is next on the phone.

This is Barry in Webster.

Hey, Barry.

Go ahead.

>> Hi, it's Barry in Brighton.

>> Oh, Brighton.

Hi, Barry.

>> Hi.

your speaker identified Jews as a religious group, and they.

We've very well are.

But more importantly, we are an ethnic group.

We started out as a tribal ethnic group, and we in America and throughout the world really are an ethnic group.

There are millions, literally millions of American Jews who have nothing to do with the religion.

But they're one quarter, one half or whole Jews.

But still identify identify with Jewish.

I being an ethnic group and they may put up a menorah on Hanukkah and that may be the only quote, unquote, religious thing to do, but they really are an ethnic group.

I also want to say that anti-Semitic as a term was created about 150 years ago, specifically for the prejudice against Jews.

So yes, certainly Arabs are Semitic people, and that anthropological definition of who people are.

But the term anti-Semitic was specifically created for the 2000 year tradition of antisemitism in the European and American Christian communities.

>> Barry.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Sir.

>> You know, it's funny when Ramadan comes around, people see me at the Islamic Center for the first prayer in the morning and they say, oh, it must be Ramadan, because Sarah's come for the first prayer.

I identify with a lot of what he said.

He said, yeah, sometimes the ethnicity is such that when the time of the year comes, we put up a menorah.

I say, you know, I'm a I'm a Ramadan Muslim.

I do what I can during.

>> The Christians.

>>, Christians.

>> Christmas and Easter only.

>> Yes, exactly.

you know, they come at midnight mass and say, oh, there you are, there you are.

I totally agree with with with that sentiment.

I don't own any term.

I try not to, you know, allow a term specifically to identify with me or for me or against me.

I think that the term has had a terribly political use that has been used against Muslim Americans and many and many Americans.

but I but I like what he said.

whether you put up the menorah once a year or 365 days a year, we're all here together and we're all the same.

>> are you hopeful right now?

Are you more hopeful in the last week?

>> I am very hopeful.

Extremely hopeful.

I think he's going to do a good job.

And if he doesn't, the people of New York will do what they need to do to get somebody to do a better job.

>> Based on his policies, not his religious identity.

>> 100%.

>> Thank you for being here.

>> Thank you for having me.

>> Sareer Fazili is the former president of the Islamic Center of Rochester.

Wonderful conversation here.

We've got more Connections coming up in just a moment.

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