Racist NYC Councilwoman Doubles Down On Naked Islamophobia

Apparently it's a mortal sin to have ever been a lawyer for someone who was locked up in Gitmo according to the Islamophobes on the right.
By Heather — September 9, 2026

A bunch of New York City wingnuts held a rally outside of City Hall this Tuesday demanding that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani not attend any of the upcoming 9-11 events this week because of his associations with podcaster Hasan Piker, and because heaven forbid, the city’s chief legal counsel, Ramzi Kassem, once represented one of the prisoners we locked up in Gitmo for ages that was never given access to a proper trial.

It's just really another excuse to let their racist freak flag fly. Fox aired a bunch of that rally earlier in the day, including NYC Councilwoman Vicki Paladino*, which was covered on Xitter by Acyn:

Laura Ingraham gave Paladino an opportunity to double down on her remarks on her show later that same evening.

NYC Councilwoman Says Mamdani Is Sending ‘A Message To Osama bin Laden’ – Who Is Dead:

Republicans have expressed outrage at the city’s first Muslim mayor for planning to attend a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Attending such ceremonies is standard fare for New York mayors and other city politicians, but a group of 9/11 family members and others has urged Mamdani not to attend.

One of those people is Paladino, who appeared on Tuesday’s edition of The Ingraham Angle. Last week, Mamdani signed a pair of 9/11-related executive orders. The first establishes an annual day of remembrance and service on Sept. 11. The second enhances New York’s agency preparedness to thwart future attacks. During the signing ceremony, he gave one of the pens to Ramzi Kassem, the city’s chief legal counsel. Kassem was an attorney for al-Qaeda operative Ahmed al-Darbi.

“Symbolism,” host Laura Ingraham told Paladino, “it’s important to everyone, but it’s super important in the Islamic world, for Muslims. Symbols matter. Commemorative, it matters to people. But they’re defending his decision to give Ramzi Kassem the pen.”

As the post noted, Paladino later used it as an excuse to accuse Mamdani of "sending a message" to bin Laden.

PALADINO: We need to be able to see through this total, absolute farce that they’re trying to pawn off on New Yorkers and across the country. I’m telling you, this was symbolism. It was cryptic. But it was a message. The same way it’s a message when he goes down to 9/11 – I hate to even say this, Laura – but you know, it’s a message to Osama bin Laden that, look, “We conquered New York.”

That’s how scary all of this really is, to each and every one of us. New Yorkers need to wake up. He won this election not with born-and-bred New Yorkers. He won this election with transplants, ages 18 to 30 years old, making promises he could never keep. So, I am furious.

They also want to distract from the fact that Mamdani just did this:

*Sister of racist freak Carl Paladino

Can you help us out?

For over 22 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but social media is limiting our ability to attract new readers. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Become a subscriber:
 
Make a donation:

If you don't mind the ads and would rather donate, please select one of the options below:

Kindest
Donate via PayPal
Via Snail Mail
payable to: Crooksandliars
2708 Wilshire Blvd. #148
Santa Monica, CA 90403

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon