New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has quietly put his weight behind Aber Kawas, a Palestinian American activist whose past comments on 9/11 and ties to influential Arab and Muslim organizations have set off alarm bells among conservatives and city residents who expect clearer judgment from incoming leadership. The endorsement surfaced inside a closed Democratic Socialists of America meeting and was shared by a member of Mamdani’s transition team, raising questions about who will shape the mayor’s local alliances. This article examines the key facts, the controversy over Kawas’s remarks, and the broader implications for local politics and public trust.
The endorsement was disclosed during a private DSA gathering when a transition team member relayed the mayor-elect’s intentions. “[Mamdani] told me that while he has tremendous respect for everyone in this race, he has said that he will support Aber in whatever she pursues,” top political advisor to the Mamdani transition, Sam McCann, said during the meeting, according to reporting. For Republicans and many independent voters, a public officeholder’s choice of allies matters deeply, particularly when those allies come with contentious histories.
Aber Kawas has been active in Arab and Muslim community organizing since 2010 and is now eyeing a run for the 34th Assembly District in Queens. That seat is being vacated by Assemblywoman Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, who will challenge Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, creating a shuffle that makes endorsements consequential. Kawas has sought backing from the Democratic Socialists of America, a group that often pushes tough progressive agendas and strategic endorsements inside local races.
Kawas’s past remarks on the 9/11 attacks have become the central flashpoint in this controversy, thanks to a clip that circulated on social media. “The system of capitalism and racism and white supremacy… and Islamophobia, have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people and so this is a long trajectory and were just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11,” she said in one unearthed clip posted on social media. “The idea we have to apologize for a terror attack that a couple of people did and then there is no apology or reparations for genocides and for slavery… is something I find reprehensible,” she added.
Those comments strike many as tone-deaf at best and deeply offensive at worst, especially given the scale of the 9/11 tragedy and the long-standing expectations of respect for its victims. From a Republican perspective, endorsing a candidate who minimizes responsibility for such an event undermines a leader’s credibility and alienates large swaths of the electorate. It also raises questions about whether Mamdani understands the optics of aligning publicly with figures who challenge basic narratives about national trauma.
Ties to advocacy groups have intensified scrutiny on Kawas. She has been linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization that critics say has problematic associations. On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation designating CAIR as a foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organization, a move that feeds into the broader national debate over the group’s influence and associations. For voters who prioritize national security and clear stances against extremism, those linkages matter in local races just as much as they do in national conversations.
This endorsement and the fallout illustrate a larger dynamic in city politics: when incoming elected officials signal support for controversial activists, they are staking a claim about the type of city they want to build. Constituents watching this transition will judge Mamdani by how he balances progressive alliances with responsible governance. Republicans will press for accountability and clarity, arguing that endorsements are not private gestures but public signals that reflect priorities and values for the entire city.
