Zohran Mamdani Said Aunt Felt Unsafe In Hijab After 9/11, JD Vance Replies

In a snarky response to Democratic leader Zohran Mamdani's remark, in which he said his aunt stopped taking the subway after the 9/11 attacks because she did not feel safe in hijab, US Vice President JD Vance has said that, according to Mamdani, the real victim of 9/11 "was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks".

Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, made the remarks while speaking about "indignities" faced by New York's Muslims. Surrounded by Muslim leaders outside a Bronx mosque, he said, "I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab." He also recounted how he was advised to keep his faith to himself when he entered politics.

According to Zohran the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks https://t.co/UGeKANSAH2

— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 25, 2025

"These are lessons that so many Muslim New Yorkers have been taught," Mamdani said. "And over these last few days, these lessons have become the closing messages of Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Eric Adams."

Curtis Sliwa and Andrew Cuomo are contesting against Mamdani in the New York mayoral polls. While Sliwa is a Republican candidate, Cuomo is running Independent. Eric Adams is the incumbent Mayor who has bowed out of the contest this time.

In the course of the poll campaign, all three leaders have accused Mamdani of being a radical. But over the past few weeks, their political attacks have veered towards Islamophobia, many Democrats allege.

Cuomo recently appeared on a conservative radio station and appeared to laugh along at the host's suggestion that Mamdani would "be cheering" another 9/11 attack. A spokesperson later said he did not agree with the host's remarks, Associated Press reported.

Mayor Adams recently said, "New York can't be Europe. I don't know what is wrong with people. You see what's playing out in other countries because of Islamic extremism." Sliwa has called Mamdani a supporter of "global jihad".

Mamdani said the dream of every Muslim is to be treated the same as any other New Yorker. "And yet for too long we have been told to ask for less than that, and to be satisfied with whatever little we receive. No more," he said.

He said that he had consciously avoided displaying his Muslim identity at the start of the campaign. "I thought that if I behaved well enough, or bit my tongue enough in the face of racist, baseless attacks, all while returning back to my central message, it would allow me to be more than just my faith," Mamdani said. "I was wrong. No amount of redirection is ever enough."

"I will not change who I am, how I eat, for the faith that I'm proud to call my own. But there is one thing that I will change. I will no longer look for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light," he said.