Joshua Klein 11 Nov 2025
The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Ohio chapter described the election of New York City’s new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, as both a “coup” against the Democratic Party elites and a “referendum” on Palestinian and Lebanese “resistance,” framing the victory as a political and ideological revolt against the American establishment.
Khalid Turaani made the remarks on Lebanon’s Mayadeen TV the day after Mamdani’s election, according to a video released by MEMRI. The comments cast the win as a revolt against the U.S. political order and a symbolic triumph for anti-Israel movements, echoing his claim that the result punctured the party hierarchy.
“I believe [Zohran] Mamdani represents an opposition to the entire American deep state,” Turaani said. “Through this historic victory, which is unprecedented in modern times, Mamdani has defeated the traditional Democratic Party.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPWCel_xAkYHe cited Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s refusal to endorse Mamdani as evidence of the establishment’s hostility, calling the New York Democrat “a Zionist, first of all, and a Jewish New Yorker” who withheld support despite representing the same city.
“So Mamdani’s [victory] constitutes a coup against the entire political establishment, which is represented by someone like Andrew Cuomo,” Turaani continued. “It is also a coup against the Democratic Party, which tried, and succeeded in 2015, to push aside Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who was a similar case to Zohran Mamdani.”
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/11/11/cair-ohio-director-mamdani-victory-referendum-palestinian-resistance/
