DeSantis Blasts Zohran Mamdani as “Pro-Terrorist Candidate,” Warns of Chaos if Elected Mayor

By: Fern Sidman

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a stinging rebuke of New York City’s political trajectory on Wednesday morning, warning that the city is “on the verge of electing a pro-terrorist Muslim mayor.” Speaking during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, the Republican governor’s comments targeted Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and current frontrunner in the city’s mayoral race.

As VIN News reported on Wednesday, DeSantis’s remarks mark one of the most forceful interventions yet by a national political figure into what has already become one of the most contentious municipal elections in recent New York history. The Florida governor, long known for his hardline positions on crime, policing, and national security, accused Mamdani of “sympathizing with terrorists” and aligning himself with radical ideologies incompatible with American and Jewish values.

“New York City went from ‘Never Again’ after 9/11 to potentially electing a man who sympathizes with terrorists,” DeSantis said, in comments cited in the VIN News report. “Communism, Islamism — and he’s going to get elected mayor. It shows you NYC hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. This guy makes de Blasio look like Ronald Reagan.”

DeSantis’s sharp rhetoric — which echoed growing anxiety within conservative and Jewish circles — underscores how Mamdani’s candidacy has become a flashpoint in national debates over antisemitism, policing, and the boundaries of political extremism.

As the VIN News report noted, DeSantis’s warning comes at a moment when many Jewish leaders, law enforcement unions, and moderate Democrats have expressed alarm over Mamdani’s record and rhetoric. The Democratic nominee, a self-described democratic socialist and state assemblyman from Queens, has faced widespread criticism for his refusal to denounce the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” and for his repeated public accusations of “genocide” against Israel during the war in Gaza.

“These aren’t slips of the tongue,” DeSantis said on Fox & Friends, according to the VIN News report. “He’s made it clear who he stands with — and it’s not the NYPD, it’s not the Jewish community, it’s not working people who just want to live safely. He’s with the radicals who hate everything this country stands for.”

DeSantis went further, warning that Mamdani’s agenda — which includes defunding the NYPD and dramatically cutting police budgets — would devastate public safety and morale. “Those are blue-collar people,” he said. “They won’t want to work for a guy like this. Imagine being a cop in that city — risking your life every day, only to have your own mayor treat you like the enemy.”

The governor’s comments, widely circulated across social media and picked up by VIN News, reflected mounting concern that New York, once a symbol of resilience after the September 11th attacks, could soon be governed by a figure openly hostile to Israel and to law enforcement.

Leaders across New York’s Jewish and pro-Israel communities have reacted to Mamdani’s rise with alarm. As VIN News has documented over recent weeks, multiple synagogue leaders and advocacy groups have described the mayoral race as “a watershed moment for Jewish life in New York City,” citing a surge in antisemitic incidents and a growing normalization of anti-Israel sentiment in mainstream politics.

One Manhattan rabbi, speaking to VIN News following DeSantis’s remarks, said the Florida governor “voiced out loud what many of us have been afraid to say.” The rabbi added, “When someone running for mayor chants with people who glorify terrorism, that’s not just politics — that’s a danger to the Jewish community’s safety and moral standing.”

Similarly, the Detectives’ Endowment Association and the Sergeants Benevolent Association — two of the city’s largest police unions — have both signaled that a Mamdani victory could lead to a wave of resignations and retirements. “It would be a catastrophe for morale,” one union source told VIN News. “Our officers are already stretched thin. You can’t run a city when your rank-and-file don’t trust the person in charge.”

DeSantis’s remarks also highlight how New York’s mayoral race has become a national story, emblematic of the broader ideological divides reshaping American politics. As VIN News reported, the contest pits three sharply different figures against one another: Mamdani, the far-left Democratic socialist; Andrew Cuomo, the centrist former governor running as an independent; and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels.

Polls have consistently shown Mamdani leading, with Cuomo trailing closely behind and Sliwa in third place. Analysts say that the race has evolved into a referendum not only on policing and governance but on the soul of the Democratic Party itself.

DeSantis, whose administration has become a national model for conservative governance, used his Fox News appearance to contrast Florida’s approach with New York’s direction. “We’ve proven in Florida that strong leadership, law and order, and respect for freedom work,” he said. “Meanwhile, New York seems determined to go in the opposite direction — embracing policies that have destroyed cities from Caracas to San Francisco.”

He added with characteristic bluntness: “If Mamdani wins, talk to us in a couple weeks — real estate will probably go up in Palm Beach.”

The line, noted in the VIN News report, was both sardonic and symbolic of the governor’s larger argument: that New York’s leftward lurch has driven tens of thousands of residents to flee for states like Florida, where taxes are lower, crime rates are down, and antisemitic incidents are prosecuted aggressively.

Mamdani’s outspoken criticism of Israel — including his support for the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement — has made him a polarizing figure, even within Democratic ranks. As VIN News has documented, several Jewish members of the New York State Assembly have publicly distanced themselves from him, while others have accused him of fueling antisemitic rhetoric that has already manifested in violent protests and vandalism.

“Zohran Mamdani represents the normalization of antisemitism in American politics,” one Jewish advocacy group told VIN News this week. “He has repeatedly refused to condemn Hamas, has echoed propaganda used to justify the murder of Israeli civilians, and has smeared Israel as an apartheid state. Electing someone like that as mayor of New York — the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel — would be a historic moral failure.”

DeSantis, a staunch supporter of Israel who has championed anti-BDS legislation in Florida, echoed those concerns. “New York City used to be a place where Jewish people felt protected, where America’s promise of religious freedom was alive,” he said. “Now you’ve got mobs chanting for intifada in Times Square and politicians who cheer them on. If that’s the future, then God help New York.”

As the VIN News report noted, both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa have sought to position themselves as defenders of public safety and as allies of the Jewish community — though their strategies differ. Cuomo, who has received quiet backing from several major synagogue leaders and pro-Israel donors, has largely avoided direct attacks on Mamdani, focusing instead on his own record of competence and stability.

Sliwa, meanwhile, has been more vocal, calling Mamdani “a menace to New York’s Jewish and working-class communities.” However, DeSantis’s intervention may further consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote behind Cuomo, as political analysts told VIN News, given Sliwa’s trailing poll numbers.

DeSantis’s comments on Fox & Friends went beyond the New York mayoral race to articulate a broader warning about the rise of radical politics in urban America. “This isn’t just about one city,” he said. “It’s about what happens when the far-left takes over — when they defund police, demonize Israel, and romanticize socialism. New York is just the latest warning sign.”

As the VIN News report observed, the Florida governor’s remarks carry weight not only as political commentary but as part of a wider ideological confrontation between conservative-led states and progressive cities. “If you want safety, stability, and prosperity, come to Florida,” DeSantis said pointedly. “If you want chaos and antisemitism, stay in New York.”

With early voting underway and tensions running high, DeSantis’s comments have injected new urgency into an already volatile race. The VIN News report noted that in synagogues, police precincts, and community forums across the city, the central question now confronting voters is whether New York will double down on its progressive trajectory or reclaim its reputation as a bastion of law, order, and tolerance.

For DeSantis, the answer seemed clear. “This election isn’t just about who runs New York,” he said. “It’s about what kind of America we want to live in.”