New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani — a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and current candidate for mayor of New York City — is facing major backlash after The New York Times reported Thursday that he falsely claimed to be both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his 2009 college application to Columbia University.

The report, based on leaked admissions data obtained by a self-described “hacktivist” aiming to expose racial preferences in elite college admissions, revealed Mamdani checked multiple race boxes on his Columbia application — including one for “Black or African American” — despite publicly identifying as South Asian and Muslim throughout his political career.

The disclosure is already being dubbed his “Elizabeth Warren moment” — a reference to the Massachusetts senator’s infamous and career-defining false claim of Native American ancestry, which eventually torpedoed her presidential ambitions.

While Mamdani did not end up attending Columbia, instead graduating from Bowdoin College in Maine with a degree in Africana Studies, his campaign is now scrambling to explain why he identified as Black on official documents, despite having no African ancestry.

Speaking to the Times, Mamdani claimed he wasn't attempting to gain an admissions advantage, but simply trying to reflect his “complex” identity.

“Most college applications don’t have a box for Indian-Ugandans, so I checked multiple boxes trying to capture the fullness of my background,” he said.

“Even though these boxes are constraining, I wanted my college application to reflect who I was.”

Yet nowhere else — not in speeches, interviews, or campaign material — has Mamdani ever identified as Black or African American. In fact, the Times found no public record of him doing so at any other time, and Mamdani himself admitted the only instance he could recall describing himself that way was on college applications.

To be clear: Mamdani was born in Uganda, but to Indian parents — his father, Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, and mother, film director Mira Nair, are both members of Uganda’s South Asian diaspora. And by Mamdani’s own admission, there was no Black ancestry or intermarriage in his family.

“They’re all of Indian origin, from Gujarat,” he told the Times.

So what was the purpose of checking the “Black or African American” box — especially when, at the time, Columbia used race-conscious admissions policies now ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court?

The answer seems painfully obvious.

Despite his denials, Mamdani’s actions mirror a disturbing trend among progressive elites: exploiting the very identity politics they publicly decry, manipulating racial categories for personal gain, and then crying foul when caught red-handed.

Critics didn’t hold back.

“Mamdani claims he wasn’t trying to give himself an advantage because Mamdani is a liar,” said investigative journalist Jerry Dunleavy IV.

Another user on X mocked it as just the latest entry in the “long list of frauds from the Democrat Party,” placing Mamdani right alongside Elizabeth Warren’s decades-long deception about her alleged Native ancestry.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Mamdani. While he’s gained traction in white liberal enclaves, his Democrat primary opponent Andrew Cuomo dominated Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Now, with this revelation, Mamdani’s credibility is further eroding among the very communities he needs to win in November.

And that spells opportunity for current Mayor Eric Adams, a Black Democrat running as an independent with renewed energy thanks to Mamdani’s radicalism and growing scandals. Adams had been all but counted out — until now.

Meanwhile, Mamdani spent Thursday pretending none of this had happened, ranting online about President Trump and GOP legislation.

“Donald Trump is attacking me because he is desperate to distract from his war on working people,” his campaign posted on X.

But the damage is done. Mamdani built his campaign on identity, now he’s being held accountable for manipulating it. And in a general election, especially one where trust and authenticity matter, that may prove fatal.