Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani said Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” pitched a “game” to play that he found inappropriate.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Mamdani recalled an exchange with Colbert’s producers ahead of his late-night appearance in June, just one day before the self-described democratic socialist clinched the Democratic nomination.
At the time, Jewish groups urged Colbert to grill Mamdani on his views about Israel.
“Right before the candidates went onstage, the producers appeared in the greenroom and said that they wanted to go over a few more questions,” The New Yorker described the situation Thursday. “According to people who were in the room, one of the producers suggested a ‘thumbs-up or thumbs-down’ segment: ‘Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: Hamas. Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: a Palestinian state.’”
“Mamdani’s face dropped. ‘I just couldn’t believe what was happening,” Mamdani told the magazine. ’That a genocide could be distilled into a late-night game.’”
Mamdani’s aides were “incensed,” one of them telling the producer, “You have the first Muslim candidate for mayor in the history of New York. … You don’t want to ask him a question about that?”
A spokesperson for “The Late Show” did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Colbert did press Mamdani for several minutes on the Israel-Hamas war and the growing concerns about antisemitism.
“Does the State of Israel have the right to exist?” Colbert asked.
“Yes,” Mamdani responded. “Like all nations, I believe it has the right to exist and a responsibility also to uphold international law.”
The liberal late-night host, who repeatedly stressed he wasn’t offering any endorsement in the mayoral race, acknowledged the “elephant in the room,” noting the “fear” within the Jewish community about the rise in antisemitism and what would happen if New York City elected Mamdani, a far-left Muslim and an outspoken critic of Israel.
“They’re very upset by some of the things that you’ve said in the past, and they’re afraid that your mayorship would actually lead to increased antisemitism, that they believe that would be more dangerous for them,” Colbert told Mamdani. “What do you say to those New Yorkers who are afraid that you wouldn’t be their mayor, that you wouldn’t protect them?”
“You know, I know where that fear is coming from,” Mamdani responded. “It’s a fear that is based upon the horrific attacks we’ve seen in Washington, DC, in Boulder, Colorado, and it’s a fear that I hear also from New Yorkers themselves.”
“You know, just a few days after the horrific war crime of Oct. 7, a friend of mine told me about how he went to his synagogue for Shabbat services, and he heard the door open behind him. And a tremor went up his spine as he turned around not knowing who was there and what they meant for him,” he continued.
“I spoke to a Jewish man in Williamsburg just months ago who told me that the door he left unlocked for decades is now one that he locks. And, ultimately, this is because we’re seeing a crisis of antisemitism.”
Mamdani then touted his proposal committing an “800%” increase in funding for the Department of Community Safety’s anti-hate crime programming.
“Because to your point, antisemitism is not simply something that we should talk about. It’s something that we have to tackle,” Mamdani told Colbert. “We have to make clear there’s no room for it in this city, in this country, in this world and — “
“And no justification for violence of any kind?” Colbert interjected.
“No,” Mamdani quickly responded. “There’s no room for violence in this city, in this country, in this world.”
Polls show Mamdani maintaining a substantial lead over his rivals even as the mayoral race narrowed following the exit of incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The 33-year-old assembly member has 46% support among likely voters, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
His nearest rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has shrunk the gap but still trails at 33% support, while Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, places a distant third with 15%.