Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Morning Joe’ Panelist Says Mamdani’s Refusal To Simply Condemn Anti-Jewish Rhetoric Was ‘Savvy’

[Screenshot/MSNBC]

MSNBC contributor Pablo Torre said on Monday that New York City’s presumptive Democrat mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” was “savvy.”

Mamdani failed to directly condemn the phrase, which is widely seen as a call to violence against Jews, and instead talked about his commitment to fight for “universal human rights” during a Sunday appearance on “Meet the Press.” Torre extended a compliment to Mamdani by stating that the mayoral candidate is refusing to fall into any “ideological” traps.

“I found him to be incredibly savvy, actually, in how he answered that,” Torre said. “Both for the reasons you said, but also because of clearly who he’s talking to. He’s trying to build a coalition, to use that word, a cohesiveness on the left. And he knows the people he’s trying to persuade, [he’s saying] ‘look, I am not your typical candidate,’ is in fact a population of people that do not see the ideological or in this case the verbal, the rhetorical purity test in the same way that I think people who understandably, by the way, just want him to condemn it.”

“I understand that completely, but Molly [Jong-Fast], he’s playing a little chess here and I think the larger move, the larger metaphor here, is that he’s seeing what Donald Trump has promised,” Torre continued. “Freedom of speech and populism, and he’s saying, ‘I’m gonna actually use those weapons against the right.’ That’s the opportunity here, right, collective self-interest rooted in the 99% and that’s why he’s refusing to fall into these traps that he knows are gonna end in one particular direction.”

WATCH:

Mamdani told “The Bulwark” host Tim Miller that he has no interest in banning phrases such as, “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea,” which sparked backlash among Jewish advocacy groups. This remark prompted “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker to repeatedly ask the mayoral candidate if he actually condemned the phrase, “globalize the intifada.”

“I don’t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech in the manner. Especially of that of Donald Trump who has put one New Yorker in jail, who’s just returned to his family, Mahmoud Khalil for that very supposed crime of speech. Ultimately what I think I need to show is the ability to not only talk about something but to tackle it. And to make clear that there’s no room for antisemitism in the city,” Mamdani said. “We have to root out that bigotry and ultimately we do that through the actions and that is the mayor I will be. One that protects Jewish New Yorkers and lives up to that commitment through the work that I do quickly for the people who care about the language and who feel really concerned by that phrase.”

The term is used by pro-Palestinian activists who are calling for Palestinian resistance, including violent acts, against Israel. It is understood to be a reference to Palestinian violence against Israel in the 1980s and the early 2000s, which has led Jewish people and advocates to believe that it is a call for “indiscriminate violence against Israel and potentially against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide,” according to the ADL.

Political commentator Molly Jong-Fast added that a huge drove of voters who do not typically vote in Democratic primaries supported Mamdani because he “spoke to them” on economic issues. Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, has proposed freezing rent, increasing the minimum wage to $30 and implementing a variety of free programs such as buses, childcare and grocery stores.

Mandani also defended his stance to increase taxes on wealthier neighborhoods, which he described as “richer and whiter,” by saying that the move is about fairness in the property tax system.