On the latest episode of Protecting America, Peter Schweizer, Investigative Journalist, Best-Selling Author and President of The Government Accountability Institute, joins Rita Cosby to discuss the very controversial and dangerous connections NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani has to extremists in our country and overseas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
The Red Apple Media Podcast Network presents this is Protecting America. Now.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Here's Emmy winning journalist Rita Cosby.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of Protecting America. I'm Rita Cosby.
So who is the new socialist mayor elect of New
York City, Zora Mondani? And what do we know about
his radical associates, some with very dangerous and controversial ties. Well,
(00:36):
joining us now to discuss this and so much more
is Peter Schweizer. He is the great investigative journalist, best
selling author, and also president of the Government Accountability Institute. Peter,
it's really great to have you here, especially in such
an important topic.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, thank you, Rito, it's good to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
What concerns you the most about Zora?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, there are a couple of things. One is obviously
his views on subjects, and those views I think reflect
what is often called the Red Green Alliance. This is
a sort of strange melding of political forces. Really, when
you think of it, the red part of the coalition
are progressives, left wing members of the Democratic Socialists of America,
(01:25):
you know, very much on the left wing of the
political spectrum like AOC, and even further to the left.
And the second part of that coalition is the Green Coalition,
which is representative of Muslim or Islamist political activists inside
the United States. And it's odd because obviously there are
(01:45):
certain issues where these two factions would totally disagree, things
like LBGTQ issues, for example, would be one of them.
The rights of women, feminism, abortion would be another one.
But they've sort of forged this coalition to work together
to achieve political success, Mundanni being the most recent example.
(02:07):
The other ones, of course would be aoc elan Omar
for example. And this is I think a overlooked but
very concerning political movements that really started to come into
four in the early two thousands. In two thousand and seven,
the two children of Chay Gavara, the famous revolutionary a
(02:31):
butcher of Cuba as he's been called. His children traveled
to Teeran to meet with the Mullahs to see if
there was a chance to work together. The meetings didn't
start off well because, of course they wanted the daughter,
jay Gavera to sort of wear head covering, which you refused.
The moms mentioned that jay Gavera had found God, which
(02:54):
of course the children rejected. But after the initial fighting
and tumult, they agreed that they were united by one thing,
and that was attacking and defeating the United States, and
that was sort of the beginning of this coalition. And
you see with Mumdani those views coming to four, the
progressive views but also the Islamist views about how New
(03:16):
York City should be run and governed. And I think
there's a lot to be concerned that's of concern as
are I think some of the international ties that exists
between Mundami and radical foreign groups.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Which of the foreign ties really trouble you the most, Well.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
There's obviously the ties with Hamas and the political elements
of Hamas. He is praised the organization. He had a
career before politics as a rapper when he famously did
rap songs talking about the Holy Land five, sorry, the
Holy Land seven. These were the individuals that were rested
(03:57):
in the United States for raising money for hammam Us.
And you see this in the international media coverage. People
really haven't been paying attention to this has the law
another terrorist organization had as a newspaper in Lebanon before
the election, they were talking about the opportunity that Mamdani
presents for Muslims to advance politically in the country, and
(04:19):
they posited that this might be only the beginning for Mumdani,
that you know, he could be mayor of New York
and then he could end up serving in the presidential cabinet.
And I mentioned one of the positions they hope he
might obtain would be the secretary for the Department of
Homeland Security. Now, why a terrorist movement would want somebody
(04:40):
that would to be the head of the Homeland Security Department,
of course, is an obvious question. But you also look
at the Iranian media. They have also been praiseworthy and
after Mumdani was elected, you know, they noted that the
influences on him theologically come from the Si part of
(05:01):
the Islamic faith, which of course the Iranian regime is.
They know the specific people that have inspired him in
terms of their teaching, and they as well believe that
this represents kind of a foothold for Islamist causes in
the United States. So, you know, the question becomes, what
is Mumdani going to do as mayor. There's all the
(05:23):
discussions about you know, he wants the government run grocery stores,
but there are a lot of things you can do
as mayor on the national security level, a surprising number
of things that should be concerning. So, for example, New
York City is already a sanctuary city, meaning that local
authorities don't cooperate with ICE in its law enforcement. But
(05:46):
they are all sorts of resources that can be brought
to bear to help illegal immigrants in New York City
who have a Muslim background, to protect them and shelter
them and provide them necessities. And there would not be
a lot that the federal government would be able to do,
particularly if city property were involved. And what Madonnie has
(06:07):
said repeatedly, he said in his victory speech, he said
it before, is that Muslim immigrants were the backbone of
his campaign, that they were the core to getting him
the nomination in the first place, and they were a
crucial ingredient in helping get him elected. So that's one
area that we should be watching and be very concerned
(06:28):
about with what might lie ahead in the future.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And you know, Peter, one of the things you talked
about some of the groups where the money could go,
and you're right, the mayor has a lot of say
into where are some of the nonprofit allocations. And I
was just reading recently Linda Sarsoor, who has a very
interesting concerning past and concerning past comments. She was his
mentor and her nonprofit raked in four million dollars from
(06:55):
New York City taxpayers. I mean, that's pretty incredible. And
that's before he takes office. So can you imagine maybe
what's going to happen when he takes office.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, that's right, I mean, you know. And Linda Sarsre
is a classic example of this red green coalition because
on the one hand, she has praised Sharia law and says, oh,
Sharia law is wonderful. For example, the credit card companies
won't be able to charge interest because that's part of
Sharia law. So there are all these really great things
(07:27):
about shari a law. So she's done that, and at
the same time she is advocated for LGBTQ rights, And
of course the question is how do you reconcile those two.
There will be a reckoning at some point, and some
of the Islamist activists have talked about the fact that, look,
this is a temporary coalition. We don't agree with these
(07:49):
people on some issues. We believe some of the things
that they are doing are despicable and we will at
some point rain them in, but for now we need them.
So this coalition exists as a coalition of convenience, and
people like Linda sarsoor are I think, frankly being dishonest
when they talk about that these two movements can meld together,
(08:12):
because there's so many elements that are not reconcilable, and
yet that I think is sort of far off. I
think that day of reckoning is far off. What we're
going to see is a continued effort to consolidate power.
You're going to see the more Islamic elements get certain
positions in the mayor's office, and then you're going to
(08:33):
see progressives get certain positions in this office. He's going
to work to appease both of them, and I think
unfortunately that's going to leave New Yorkers with the worst
of both worlds.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah, that's a great point because it's going to be
so extreme. You know, you talked about gay rights, and
I keep thinking about also, Peter, the fact that Mandani,
he's from Uganda, and there was that big controversy that
happened during the campaign when he showed up with this
woman and he said, oh, I don't really know her,
and then it turns out he's a friend of the woman,
was a good friend apparently according to a reporting of
(09:06):
his family, and she was the one who was pushing
for probably one of the most anti gay bills in
Uganda and throughout the world. So like meanwhile he's saying, oh,
he's the protector of gay rights.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, exactly. And of course the Imamahaje that he met with,
you know, on the eve of the election, he's the
cleric in the booklet I believe it is who was
the unindicted co conspirator in the nineteen ninety three World
Trade Center. He's got three adult children that are in
(09:42):
jail and convicted on terrorism charges. He has been extremely
outspoken about what he regards as the social decay as
demonstrated by you know, gay rights and gay activists, and
even the act of of gay's romantically involved to him
(10:03):
is absolutely abhorrent. And yet he is a significant spiritual
influence to Mamdani. So look, at some point things are
going to come to head and he's going to have
to pick which side of the equation this is on.
If you look at his history, you look at his upbringing.
You look at his roots, you look at where he
worships and what he worships. Those in the progressive movement
(10:26):
that are concerned about civil liberties and civil rights ought
to be I would argue particularly concerned when he decides
to make that shift.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, absolutely, and especially as we know in Uganda one
of the things that they push for. And this is
his home country, of course, this is his family's roots,
is where he had his wedding celebration. They said that
gay relations, gay sexual relations are life sentences and repeat
offenses are death penalty. I mean that's shocking.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah, it is. And let's also remember that this
is a family, Mamdani's family that is very close to
the Katari royal family. The Katari royal family has really
bankrolled Mamdani's mother's political career. One of the uh you
know daughters that is one of the prominent members of
(11:19):
the Katari royal family has been very vocal in supporting
his campaign on social media. You know, the situation with
regard to those issues in Qatar is not particularly good.
So there's this strange dichotomy. On the one hand, Mamdani
has tried to present himself as sort of this child
(11:41):
of the developing world. You know, this whole sort of
strange thing. You remember Rita where he insisted on reading
eating rice with his fingers right, just to sort of
demonstrate his bona fides. But look, when you look at
that developing world where he comes from and which he
associates with, whether it's katar Are, whether it is Uganda,
(12:03):
these are not places where the civil liberties of people
that have different lifestyle to lift different belief systems are
particularly welcome. In the Islamic strain in Uganda and Uganda,
there is tension between Christians and Islamic members, and the
Momdani compound is not that far from a prominent mosque
(12:26):
in Uganda. The Muslims in Uganda are particularly hardcore. So
it's going to be interesting to see how he squares
these things. Look, if we know anything from the campaign Rita,
we know that he is smooth. We know that the
media is not going to particularly challenge him. We know
that he's not going to put himself in a position
(12:46):
and answer difficult questions. It's really, I think, going to
come down to when he sort of divides the spoils,
who's going to be running, which departments between these factions,
the sort of Muslim faction and the progressive faction. Is
there going to be a food fight that breaks out
between those two sides because they're unhappy with what they're
going to get. That's when you might see a split
(13:08):
in the coalition. But I think absent that if both
sides are generally getting what they want, you've got a
governing coalition in his mind that's going to be very
effective and very formidable. And what we've seen with progressives
in other areas when they get elected, whether it's as
a mayor or in a congressional district or congressional office,
(13:32):
their governing strategy is wrapped around the notion of perpetuating
their rule, and that means solidifying your political allies in
punishing your enemies. All politicians to a certain extent do that.
But this coalition and particularly uses the gears of governments
(13:52):
for the extension of their political power. And this is
what you see in some of the statements from the
Iranian media and others that does this agger in now
a permanence that we are going to see this governing
coalition rule New York going forward. That the days of
moderate Democrats or modern Republicans being able to mount a
(14:13):
campaign for New York mayor is gone because this coalition
works together and as an effective and we'll have to see.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, that's a really powerful question, Peter, And you're right.
And if you look at who was voting for him,
predominantly people who've been in this country less than five years.
So it's sort of this new coalition clearly tapping into
that group too.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, and this is one of the reasons why I
think progressives have really shifted. I mean, you look at
Bernie Sanders and others. They have shifted from being generally
wanting to protect the wages of the working class, so
they've generally been restrictive on immigration that they realized about
fifteen to twenty years ago. Wait a minute, if we
(15:00):
bring in people from other societies and cultures that are
more collectivists, that are more oriented towards governments, they don't
have the sort of independent American spirit yet because they
haven't been here long enough. That is a voting block
for us. And I think what you're going to see
with Mundani is wanting to encourage people that are that
(15:21):
minded from around the country and around the world to
come to New York to mint new voters for himself
and for his coalition is what happens in New York.
It's obviously a global city, but politically it's global as well,
and there's a lot of people around the world looking
for this as an opportunity to advance their interest in
(15:41):
our country.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, you're right, and some of them good, many of
them not, you know, I mean that is the problem
too and questionable now feeling like maybe they have a friend,
you know, in a higher place. The other thing you
didn't mention, also, Peter, you mentioned his mom. What about
his father, Mundani's father, who essentially said that suicide bombers
(16:02):
are misunderstood.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yes, and has really made excuses for Muslim misconduct in Darfur.
You remember Darfur in Sudan, which was a big issue
twenty years ago, where the estimates from the UN and
others is that four hundred thousand Christians were slaughtered by
(16:27):
Islamist tribes from the north. Well, Mamdani just literally wrote
a book on that that didn't come out, you know,
maybe a month ago, and in that book he basically
makes excuses and said, no, this was not genocide, this
was just sort of a typical civil war. It happens,
and so this is a habit. And you know, we
(16:48):
understand Jorhan Mamdani is not his father. But on the
other hand, he has never distanced himself at all from
any of his father's radical views, whether it's the view
as you correctly pointed out, that suicide bombing is a
legitimate form of resistance to occupation, blowing up civilians with
the other civilians is is acceptable. Making excuses for, you know,
(17:14):
genocidal situations like happen in South Sadan, or arguing that
you know, nine to eleven was essentially justified that it
was angst, in frustration and anger by people over the
issue in the Middle East in Israel. So you know, hey,
we're sorry, but this kind of happens. You're going to
(17:35):
We're going to knock down this iconic building and kill
thousands of New Yorkers. That's essentially the posture that his
father took. And again, no one's saying you should attack
your father, but you could simply say, look, I'm not
my father, I don't share his views, I reject those views.
He's never done that, he's never said that, and it
was something that you would expect him to do in
(17:57):
the middle of a campaign, which he didn't do. So
I really doubt now that he's once in office that
he's going to do that because I think it reflects
his view of you know, America being this colonial society
and this is an opportunity for those who have been
victimized by a colonial society have an opportunity to fight
(18:18):
back effectively.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah. No, I agree, he never did, and in fact,
it seems like he very much praises his father, and
you're right, shares his beliefs. You know. The other thing too,
as you're talking, Peter Schweizer, that I think about Mandannie's
going to be mayor of New York City on the
twenty fifth anniversary of nine to eleven. That to me,
I think a lot of people have a pit in
(18:40):
their stomach thinking about that.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, and here's the other thing that's interesting. What happened
at the nine to eleven anniversary this year. You know,
Mamdanie made some statements. What Mamdannie also did was he
went on Katari TV in Qatar a couple of days after.
And you know, I don't know of any other American
(19:03):
candidate for a mayoral position in the United States that
goes on Katari TV during the middle of a campaign,
but he did, and it was very very interesting if
you looked at it through the language of you know,
he knew he was being watched by people in the
United States, so we wouldn't going to say anything too radical.
(19:25):
But he was making a statement and making a point
by going on that TV station and talking about Middle
East politics and talking about American foreign policy. He was
making a statement about what his interests are and where
his loyalties lie. And I don't say that in the
context of, you know, questioning, you know, his citizenship or
(19:48):
anything like that. I say it simply in the context
of what is his view about what his responsibilities are
and what he cares about. You know, if you love
your country, you want good for your country, and you
don't spend your time criticizing your country. If you love
your spouse, you don't spend all your time criticizing your spouse.
(20:11):
That's really what Mumdani has done. He's been highly critical
of the United States on so many levels. And you
have to wonder going forward as he's making decisions regarding
policies for New York, but also is talking to other
mayors and is traveling overseas. You know, Look, if you're
mayor of New York, you in effect have kind of
(20:34):
a foreign policy and Mumdannie's going to have that and
I think we know where that's all going and what
it's all going to mean.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yeah, and boy, I think a lot of it's very troubling,
especially some of the anti Israel comments that he has
made seems to continue to do. And you look at
the DSA platform, there are so many questions here. Peter,
this was such a powerful podcast. You've got to come
back on again soon. And every buddy be sure to
subscribe and share to this podcast. And Peter Schweizer really
(21:06):
just great information. You're one of the great investigator of
journalists and just great big best selling authors out there.
You've done such good work. And please keep us posted
because he hasn't even taken office yet, so I think
we're gonna have a lot to talk about the next
few years.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We will, RITA. It's always fun to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
On and everybody. I'll be back soon with another great
addition of protecting America. And of course you can catch
me every weeknight ten pm to midnight on the legendary
WABC Radio. This is Rita Cosby and thanks for all
you do to protect America.
The Red Apple Media Podcast Network presents this is Protecting America. Now.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Here's Emmy winning journalist Rita Cosby.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome to another edition of Protecting America. I'm Rita Cosby.
So who is the new socialist mayor elect of New
York City, Zora Mondani? And what do we know about
his radical associates, some with very dangerous and controversial ties. Well,
(00:36):
joining us now to discuss this and so much more
is Peter Schweizer. He is the great investigative journalist, best
selling author, and also president of the Government Accountability Institute. Peter,
it's really great to have you here, especially in such
an important topic.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, thank you, Rito, it's good to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
What concerns you the most about Zora?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, there are a couple of things. One is obviously
his views on subjects, and those views I think reflect
what is often called the Red Green Alliance. This is
a sort of strange melding of political forces. Really, when
you think of it, the red part of the coalition
are progressives, left wing members of the Democratic Socialists of America,
(01:25):
you know, very much on the left wing of the
political spectrum like AOC, and even further to the left.
And the second part of that coalition is the Green Coalition,
which is representative of Muslim or Islamist political activists inside
the United States. And it's odd because obviously there are
(01:45):
certain issues where these two factions would totally disagree, things
like LBGTQ issues, for example, would be one of them.
The rights of women, feminism, abortion would be another one.
But they've sort of forged this coalition to work together
to achieve political success, Mundanni being the most recent example.
(02:07):
The other ones, of course would be aoc elan Omar
for example. And this is I think a overlooked but
very concerning political movements that really started to come into
four in the early two thousands. In two thousand and seven,
the two children of Chay Gavara, the famous revolutionary a
(02:31):
butcher of Cuba as he's been called. His children traveled
to Teeran to meet with the Mullahs to see if
there was a chance to work together. The meetings didn't
start off well because, of course they wanted the daughter,
jay Gavera to sort of wear head covering, which you refused.
The moms mentioned that jay Gavera had found God, which
(02:54):
of course the children rejected. But after the initial fighting
and tumult, they agreed that they were united by one thing,
and that was attacking and defeating the United States, and
that was sort of the beginning of this coalition. And
you see with Mumdani those views coming to four, the
progressive views but also the Islamist views about how New
(03:16):
York City should be run and governed. And I think
there's a lot to be concerned that's of concern as
are I think some of the international ties that exists
between Mundami and radical foreign groups.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Which of the foreign ties really trouble you the most, Well.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
There's obviously the ties with Hamas and the political elements
of Hamas. He is praised the organization. He had a
career before politics as a rapper when he famously did
rap songs talking about the Holy Land five, sorry, the
Holy Land seven. These were the individuals that were rested
(03:57):
in the United States for raising money for hammam Us.
And you see this in the international media coverage. People
really haven't been paying attention to this has the law
another terrorist organization had as a newspaper in Lebanon before
the election, they were talking about the opportunity that Mamdani
presents for Muslims to advance politically in the country, and
(04:19):
they posited that this might be only the beginning for Mumdani,
that you know, he could be mayor of New York
and then he could end up serving in the presidential cabinet.
And I mentioned one of the positions they hope he
might obtain would be the secretary for the Department of
Homeland Security. Now, why a terrorist movement would want somebody
(04:40):
that would to be the head of the Homeland Security Department,
of course, is an obvious question. But you also look
at the Iranian media. They have also been praiseworthy and
after Mumdani was elected, you know, they noted that the
influences on him theologically come from the Si part of
(05:01):
the Islamic faith, which of course the Iranian regime is.
They know the specific people that have inspired him in
terms of their teaching, and they as well believe that
this represents kind of a foothold for Islamist causes in
the United States. So, you know, the question becomes, what
is Mumdani going to do as mayor. There's all the
(05:23):
discussions about you know, he wants the government run grocery stores,
but there are a lot of things you can do
as mayor on the national security level, a surprising number
of things that should be concerning. So, for example, New
York City is already a sanctuary city, meaning that local
authorities don't cooperate with ICE in its law enforcement. But
(05:46):
they are all sorts of resources that can be brought
to bear to help illegal immigrants in New York City
who have a Muslim background, to protect them and shelter
them and provide them necessities. And there would not be
a lot that the federal government would be able to do,
particularly if city property were involved. And what Madonnie has
(06:07):
said repeatedly, he said in his victory speech, he said
it before, is that Muslim immigrants were the backbone of
his campaign, that they were the core to getting him
the nomination in the first place, and they were a
crucial ingredient in helping get him elected. So that's one
area that we should be watching and be very concerned
(06:28):
about with what might lie ahead in the future.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And you know, Peter, one of the things you talked
about some of the groups where the money could go,
and you're right, the mayor has a lot of say
into where are some of the nonprofit allocations. And I
was just reading recently Linda Sarsoor, who has a very
interesting concerning past and concerning past comments. She was his
mentor and her nonprofit raked in four million dollars from
(06:55):
New York City taxpayers. I mean, that's pretty incredible. And
that's before he takes office. So can you imagine maybe
what's going to happen when he takes office.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, that's right, I mean, you know. And Linda Sarsre
is a classic example of this red green coalition because
on the one hand, she has praised Sharia law and says, oh,
Sharia law is wonderful. For example, the credit card companies
won't be able to charge interest because that's part of
Sharia law. So there are all these really great things
(07:27):
about shari a law. So she's done that, and at
the same time she is advocated for LGBTQ rights, And
of course the question is how do you reconcile those two.
There will be a reckoning at some point, and some
of the Islamist activists have talked about the fact that, look,
this is a temporary coalition. We don't agree with these
(07:49):
people on some issues. We believe some of the things
that they are doing are despicable and we will at
some point rain them in, but for now we need them.
So this coalition exists as a coalition of convenience, and
people like Linda sarsoor are I think, frankly being dishonest
when they talk about that these two movements can meld together,
(08:12):
because there's so many elements that are not reconcilable, and
yet that I think is sort of far off. I
think that day of reckoning is far off. What we're
going to see is a continued effort to consolidate power.
You're going to see the more Islamic elements get certain
positions in the mayor's office, and then you're going to
(08:33):
see progressives get certain positions in this office. He's going
to work to appease both of them, and I think
unfortunately that's going to leave New Yorkers with the worst
of both worlds.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah, that's a great point because it's going to be
so extreme. You know, you talked about gay rights, and
I keep thinking about also, Peter, the fact that Mandani,
he's from Uganda, and there was that big controversy that
happened during the campaign when he showed up with this
woman and he said, oh, I don't really know her,
and then it turns out he's a friend of the woman,
was a good friend apparently according to a reporting of
(09:06):
his family, and she was the one who was pushing
for probably one of the most anti gay bills in
Uganda and throughout the world. So like meanwhile he's saying, oh,
he's the protector of gay rights.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, exactly. And of course the Imamahaje that he met with,
you know, on the eve of the election, he's the
cleric in the booklet I believe it is who was
the unindicted co conspirator in the nineteen ninety three World
Trade Center. He's got three adult children that are in
(09:42):
jail and convicted on terrorism charges. He has been extremely
outspoken about what he regards as the social decay as
demonstrated by you know, gay rights and gay activists, and
even the act of of gay's romantically involved to him
(10:03):
is absolutely abhorrent. And yet he is a significant spiritual
influence to Mamdani. So look, at some point things are
going to come to head and he's going to have
to pick which side of the equation this is on.
If you look at his history, you look at his upbringing.
You look at his roots, you look at where he
worships and what he worships. Those in the progressive movement
(10:26):
that are concerned about civil liberties and civil rights ought
to be I would argue particularly concerned when he decides
to make that shift.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, absolutely, and especially as we know in Uganda one
of the things that they push for. And this is
his home country, of course, this is his family's roots,
is where he had his wedding celebration. They said that
gay relations, gay sexual relations are life sentences and repeat
offenses are death penalty. I mean that's shocking.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah, it is. And let's also remember that this
is a family, Mamdani's family that is very close to
the Katari royal family. The Katari royal family has really
bankrolled Mamdani's mother's political career. One of the uh you
know daughters that is one of the prominent members of
(11:19):
the Katari royal family has been very vocal in supporting
his campaign on social media. You know, the situation with
regard to those issues in Qatar is not particularly good.
So there's this strange dichotomy. On the one hand, Mamdani
has tried to present himself as sort of this child
(11:41):
of the developing world. You know, this whole sort of
strange thing. You remember Rita where he insisted on reading
eating rice with his fingers right, just to sort of
demonstrate his bona fides. But look, when you look at
that developing world where he comes from and which he
associates with, whether it's katar Are, whether it is Uganda,
(12:03):
these are not places where the civil liberties of people
that have different lifestyle to lift different belief systems are
particularly welcome. In the Islamic strain in Uganda and Uganda,
there is tension between Christians and Islamic members, and the
Momdani compound is not that far from a prominent mosque
(12:26):
in Uganda. The Muslims in Uganda are particularly hardcore. So
it's going to be interesting to see how he squares
these things. Look, if we know anything from the campaign Rita,
we know that he is smooth. We know that the
media is not going to particularly challenge him. We know
that he's not going to put himself in a position
(12:46):
and answer difficult questions. It's really, I think, going to
come down to when he sort of divides the spoils,
who's going to be running, which departments between these factions,
the sort of Muslim faction and the progressive faction. Is
there going to be a food fight that breaks out
between those two sides because they're unhappy with what they're
going to get. That's when you might see a split
(13:08):
in the coalition. But I think absent that if both
sides are generally getting what they want, you've got a
governing coalition in his mind that's going to be very
effective and very formidable. And what we've seen with progressives
in other areas when they get elected, whether it's as
a mayor or in a congressional district or congressional office,
(13:32):
their governing strategy is wrapped around the notion of perpetuating
their rule, and that means solidifying your political allies in
punishing your enemies. All politicians to a certain extent do that.
But this coalition and particularly uses the gears of governments
(13:52):
for the extension of their political power. And this is
what you see in some of the statements from the
Iranian media and others that does this agger in now
a permanence that we are going to see this governing
coalition rule New York going forward. That the days of
moderate Democrats or modern Republicans being able to mount a
(14:13):
campaign for New York mayor is gone because this coalition
works together and as an effective and we'll have to see.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, that's a really powerful question, Peter, And you're right.
And if you look at who was voting for him,
predominantly people who've been in this country less than five years.
So it's sort of this new coalition clearly tapping into
that group too.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, and this is one of the reasons why I
think progressives have really shifted. I mean, you look at
Bernie Sanders and others. They have shifted from being generally
wanting to protect the wages of the working class, so
they've generally been restrictive on immigration that they realized about
fifteen to twenty years ago. Wait a minute, if we
(15:00):
bring in people from other societies and cultures that are
more collectivists, that are more oriented towards governments, they don't
have the sort of independent American spirit yet because they
haven't been here long enough. That is a voting block
for us. And I think what you're going to see
with Mundani is wanting to encourage people that are that
(15:21):
minded from around the country and around the world to
come to New York to mint new voters for himself
and for his coalition is what happens in New York.
It's obviously a global city, but politically it's global as well,
and there's a lot of people around the world looking
for this as an opportunity to advance their interest in
(15:41):
our country.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, you're right, and some of them good, many of
them not, you know, I mean that is the problem
too and questionable now feeling like maybe they have a friend,
you know, in a higher place. The other thing you
didn't mention, also, Peter, you mentioned his mom. What about
his father, Mundani's father, who essentially said that suicide bombers
(16:02):
are misunderstood.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yes, and has really made excuses for Muslim misconduct in Darfur.
You remember Darfur in Sudan, which was a big issue
twenty years ago, where the estimates from the UN and
others is that four hundred thousand Christians were slaughtered by
(16:27):
Islamist tribes from the north. Well, Mamdani just literally wrote
a book on that that didn't come out, you know,
maybe a month ago, and in that book he basically
makes excuses and said, no, this was not genocide, this
was just sort of a typical civil war. It happens,
and so this is a habit. And you know, we
(16:48):
understand Jorhan Mamdani is not his father. But on the
other hand, he has never distanced himself at all from
any of his father's radical views, whether it's the view
as you correctly pointed out, that suicide bombing is a
legitimate form of resistance to occupation, blowing up civilians with
the other civilians is is acceptable. Making excuses for, you know,
(17:14):
genocidal situations like happen in South Sadan, or arguing that
you know, nine to eleven was essentially justified that it
was angst, in frustration and anger by people over the
issue in the Middle East in Israel. So you know, hey,
we're sorry, but this kind of happens. You're going to
(17:35):
We're going to knock down this iconic building and kill
thousands of New Yorkers. That's essentially the posture that his
father took. And again, no one's saying you should attack
your father, but you could simply say, look, I'm not
my father, I don't share his views, I reject those views.
He's never done that, he's never said that, and it
was something that you would expect him to do in
(17:57):
the middle of a campaign, which he didn't do. So
I really doubt now that he's once in office that
he's going to do that because I think it reflects
his view of you know, America being this colonial society
and this is an opportunity for those who have been
victimized by a colonial society have an opportunity to fight
(18:18):
back effectively.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah. No, I agree, he never did, and in fact,
it seems like he very much praises his father, and
you're right, shares his beliefs. You know. The other thing too,
as you're talking, Peter Schweizer, that I think about Mandannie's
going to be mayor of New York City on the
twenty fifth anniversary of nine to eleven. That to me,
I think a lot of people have a pit in
(18:40):
their stomach thinking about that.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, and here's the other thing that's interesting. What happened
at the nine to eleven anniversary this year. You know,
Mamdanie made some statements. What Mamdannie also did was he
went on Katari TV in Qatar a couple of days after.
And you know, I don't know of any other American
(19:03):
candidate for a mayoral position in the United States that
goes on Katari TV during the middle of a campaign,
but he did, and it was very very interesting if
you looked at it through the language of you know,
he knew he was being watched by people in the
United States, so we wouldn't going to say anything too radical.
(19:25):
But he was making a statement and making a point
by going on that TV station and talking about Middle
East politics and talking about American foreign policy. He was
making a statement about what his interests are and where
his loyalties lie. And I don't say that in the
context of, you know, questioning, you know, his citizenship or
(19:48):
anything like that. I say it simply in the context
of what is his view about what his responsibilities are
and what he cares about. You know, if you love
your country, you want good for your country, and you
don't spend your time criticizing your country. If you love
your spouse, you don't spend all your time criticizing your spouse.
(20:11):
That's really what Mumdani has done. He's been highly critical
of the United States on so many levels. And you
have to wonder going forward as he's making decisions regarding
policies for New York, but also is talking to other
mayors and is traveling overseas. You know, Look, if you're
mayor of New York, you in effect have kind of
(20:34):
a foreign policy and Mumdannie's going to have that and
I think we know where that's all going and what
it's all going to mean.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yeah, and boy, I think a lot of it's very troubling,
especially some of the anti Israel comments that he has
made seems to continue to do. And you look at
the DSA platform, there are so many questions here. Peter,
this was such a powerful podcast. You've got to come
back on again soon. And every buddy be sure to
subscribe and share to this podcast. And Peter Schweizer really
(21:06):
just great information. You're one of the great investigator of
journalists and just great big best selling authors out there.
You've done such good work. And please keep us posted
because he hasn't even taken office yet, so I think
we're gonna have a lot to talk about the next
few years.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We will, RITA. It's always fun to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
On and everybody. I'll be back soon with another great
addition of protecting America. And of course you can catch
me every weeknight ten pm to midnight on the legendary
WABC Radio. This is Rita Cosby and thanks for all
you do to protect America.
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