Watch: Mamdani Doubles Down on His Anti-Israel Oct. 7 Statement When Confronted by Reporter
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declined Thursday to amend his controversial Oct. 7 statement, and he repeated the claim that Israel has used the Hamas attacks as justification for what he called a genocide.
Reporters put the question to him at a New York City event carried by Fox News. “Is there a line that you would add to your statement? Is there one you would take out?”
He did not answer either. He described the anniversary as a day of mourning for both sides of the conflict.
NOW: Reporters confront NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani with questions about October 7 and his anti-Israel statement about the horrific Hamas attack.
“Is there a line that you would add to your statement? Is there one you would take out?”
Mamdani refuses to answer either question, instead describing the anniversary as a day of mourning for both sides of the conflict.
He then accuses Israel’s government of using the Hamas attacks to justify what he describes as an ongoing genocide:
“We know that it brings up the most horrific memories for so many in the city, and also, for others, it is a day that is continuing, and it’s in the Israeli government’s use of it as a justification for a genocide.”
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 8, 2026
“I believe that there must be room to mourn every single life,” he said, according to Fox News. “There must be room to mourn the lives of the more than 1,100 that Hamas killed three years ago; there must be room to mourn the 74,000 Palestinians that the Israeli government has killed since.”
He then tied the date to the war that followed.
“We know that it brings up the most horrific memories for so many in the city, and also, for others, it is a day that is continuing, and it’s in the Israeli government’s use of it as a justification for a genocide,” he added.
The statement he was defending was published on Wednesday, the third anniversary of the attacks.
The Western Journal reported on the statement that day. In the post, Mamdani wrote that the day marked three years since “the horrific war crimes of October 7,” that Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others, and that the city grieved with neighbors who still carried that loss.
But the next sentences turned to Israel.
“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” he wrote. “It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,000 children.”
Mamdani said that more than 1,400 Palestinians had been killed since what he called a “so-called ceasefire,” and that New Yorkers’ tax dollars funded “these war crimes.”
He closed by saying occupation and apartheid could not be accepted, and that the federal government was complicit with every arms shipment.
CNN reported that he was booed on arrival at an Oct. 7 vigil in Union Square on Wednesday night. His public schedule listed a meeting with Palestinian New Yorkers after the vigil.
Israel has rejected the genocide charge and said its military targets Hamas and other terrorist groups while trying to limit civilian casualties.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended his attendance at an Oct. 7 vigil in Union Square on Wednesday after being booed, heckled and called a traitor by some attendees.
Mamdani said he was proud to attend the event and hear from families of victims, adding that facing criticism comes with his role as mayor. “This is what I signed up for,” he said.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 8, 2026
“Opportunist piece of s***!”
Anti-Israel protesters unleash on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani at an Oct. 7 vigil, heckling him over the alleged sale of “stolen” Palestinian land.
“Shame on you!” demonstrators shout as they demand the mayor take action on the international issue.
The confrontation doesn’t stop at the insults. See what else protesters demanded from the mayor. Read the full story: https://t.co/jUIHDljtdo
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 8, 2026
Thursday’s answers did not revise Wednesday’s post.
Mamdani kept the death toll he had used, kept the word genocide, and would not say which sentence he would change, if any.
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