After a video recirculated of Zohran Mamdani eating food with his hands, many MAGA figures revealed their inability to engage with New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee without being sent into a xenophobic tizzy.
In the video, a 2023 interview with Uncivilized Media, Mamdani describes growing up in the Third World and being surprised by a “glaring contradiction” in the U.S. political mainstream’s stance on Palestinian rights: “We say we care about freedom and justice and self-determination,” Mamdani said in the video, in which he is shown eating South Asian food with his hands, “and yet, for some reason, we draw a line when it comes to Palestinians.”
The clip, which made the rounds after being shared by the right-wing X account @EndWokeness on Sunday, was too much to bear for many in MAGA world.
Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer who visited the White House last month—and wields considerable influence there—posted, “Honestly, being an Islamist and a Communist was enough for me to not want @ZohranKMamdani in office. He is from Africa. And you can tell in the way he eats. Disgusting. My dogs are cleaner and more civilized when they eat than little Muhammad.” (Loomer is oft-mocked online for eating “human-grade” dog food during an ad on her podcast.)
Fellow MAGA podcaster Charlie Kirk joined in, suggesting on his show that the two-year-old clip was a “calculated stunt” to “signal his Third World cred.” Kirk argued, “If he eats rice with his hands, whether he means it or not, he’s either authentically gross, or he’s being a fake, disgusting person.”
“Civilized people in America don’t eat like this,” wrote Republican Representative Brandon Gill of Texas, who told Mamdani to “go back to the Third World” if he refuses “to adopt Western customs.”
“Look at how this pig Zohran eats with his hands,” posted MAGA podcaster Mike Crispi of New Jersey. “Have some respect for our system,” he added, suggesting that “using a FORK and acknowledging the greatness of CAPITALISM” are twin pillars of American democracy.
