Mamdani Endorsed Left-Wing Activist Who Blamed 9/11 On ‘Capitalism’, ‘White Supremacy’

New York City’s far-left political machine continues to accelerate under Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who is now openly championing activists with extreme ideological worldviews — including a newly arrived immigrant candidate who once claimed that the 9/11 terror attacks were the result of American “capitalism,” “racism,” “white supremacy,” and “Islamophobia.”

Just days before his unusually cordial meeting with President Donald J. Trump at the White House, Mamdani headlined a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) gathering on Wednesday, where he endorsed Palestinian activist Aber Kawas for local office. Kawas, who earned a master's degree in “Islamic Liberation Theology,” moved into the district she hopes to represent only a year ago.

Kawas has a long history of radical rhetoric. In 2017, she told a panel that “the system of capitalism and racism, and white supremacy, et cetera, have all, and Islamophobia, have all been used, you know, to colonize lands, right, to take resources from other people, and so this is, like, a long trajectory. And we’re just seeing the manifestations of that continuation, right, with 9/11.”

She continued by blaming American and European policy for global conflict: “Historically, right, you know, a lot of us come from lands that were colonized, lands where wars are being waged, right, and a lot of times because of U.S. policy or the policies in Europe.”

Despite her apparent belief that the United States is a global villain, she chose to relocate here — a contradiction left unexplained.

In the same 2017 discussion, Kawas also dismissed the expectation that Muslim-majority communities condemn terrorism, saying: “The idea that we have to apologize for, like, a terror attack that, like, a couple people did, and then there is no apologies or reparations for genocides and for slavery, um, et cetera, is something that I kind of find, like, reprehensible,” ignoring the centuries of conquest and bloodshed among empires throughout the Middle East.

Her activism includes social media posts celebrating convicted terrorist Ahmed Ferhani, who in 2011 received a 10-year prison sentence for plotting to bomb a Manhattan synagogue. On her Tumblr — itself a product of the capitalist system she condemns — she called him a “brother,” writing:

“But then this weekend, I felt the deepst [sic] low. I heard the news of my brother, whose case I’ve followed & whose family I knew—Ahmad Farfani. After being pursued for years by the NYPD and eventually caught up in an entrapment case, last weekend he attempted suicide in order to escape his circumstance. He saw nowhere out but death. This is the state our people are in.”

Mamdani’s embrace of such positions underscores the leftward lurch dominating New York politics — a dynamic that makes his friendly White House appearance alongside President Trump all the more striking.

On Friday, Trump met with the man who once called himself “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” and emerged from the Oval Office praising the mayor-elect’s tone and approach. Both leaders focused on shared goals rather than ideology, in a departure from the bitter public attacks that helped define their careers.

Trump — who had previously branded Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and a “total nut job” — expressed a surprising openness to the incoming mayor, The Associated Press reported.

“I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually,” Trump said, with Mamdani standing at his side.

For Mamdani, the moment offered a national platform and access to the most influential figure in American politics. For President Trump, the meeting provided an opportunity to highlight his administration’s work to improve affordability at a time when cost-of-living concerns dominate public opinion.

How their respective political bases will react to this sudden show of civility remains to be seen.

The president emphasized his willingness to work with Mamdani, telling reporters: “We’re going to be helping him, to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York.”

Mamdani echoed that sentiment in a rare moment of alignment: “What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.”

Trump even suggested that the two share common ground on key economic issues: “Some of his ideas are really the same ideas that I have,” he said, specifically referencing Mamdani’s inflation proposals.

From endorsing a candidate who blames America for 9/11 to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump, Mamdani is steering New York City politics into uncharted territory — raising questions about what comes next for the nation’s largest and most ideologically divided metropolis.