Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called out socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over his refusal to denounce antisemitic rhetoric among his supporters, warning that moral clarity is a prerequisite for leadership at any level of government.
In an exclusive interview with Jewish Insider, Shapiro, a Democrat and one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish elected officials, declared Mamdani’s silence a failure to lead.
“I’ll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,” Shapiro said. “If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you’re a leader. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader — you have to speak and act with moral clarity.”
“When supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there,” he continued. “You’ve got to condemn that.”
Mamdani, a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly who represents Queens, has made no secret of his socialist politics. He’s been an outspoken critic of Israel who, just weeks after the deadly Hamas terror attack against Israel, joined actress Cynthia Nixon in a five-day hunger strike calling for an end to U.S. military assistance to the Jewish state.
Mamdani has accused Israel of committing “genocide” and refuses to condemn the phrase “globalize the Intifada,” a call to use violence on behalf of the Palestinian cause. While Mamdani has said he does not personally use the phrase and would discourage others from doing so, he has also likened it to historic acts of resistance, including the Warsaw Ghetto uprising during the Holocaust.
Mamdani’s position has drawn backlash from across the political spectrum, with some accusing him of minimizing antisemitism or enabling rhetoric that alienates Jewish constituents.
“He seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers,” Shapiro told Jewish Insider. “He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things.”
Shapiro is one of the few members of his party to publicly condemn Mamdani, who has been endorsed in his bid for mayor by several prominent Democrats. Among them: U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
Another Pennsylvania Democrat who is not a Mamdani fan: U.S. Sen. John Fetterman.
“Everything that I’ve read on him, I don’t really agree with virtually any of it politically,” Fetterman told Fox News. “That’s just where I’m at as a Democrat. He’s not even a Democrat, honestly.”
Shapiro’s comments on a mayor’s race in another state are seen by some political observers as yet another sign the first-term governor has his eye on a 2028 White House bid. In a recent Echelon Insights poll, Shapiro ranked sixth on a list of potential candidates, receiving 4 percent support.
Mamdani has not yet responded directly to Shapiro’s remarks.