Politics
NEW: Top Mamdani Appointee Resigns Over Anti-White, Antisemitic Social Media Posts
A high-profile appointee of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani resigned Thursday following the emergence of several old social media posts in which she expressed anti-white and antisemitic views.
Catherine Almonte Da Costa, 33, was tapped by the self-styled socialist mayor to serve as his director of recruitments. In this role, she would have overseen the recruitment, vetting, and placement of key staff in City Hall ahead of his January 1, 2026, inauguration.
The appointment was short-lived, however, as several advocacy and civil rights groups raised questions about a number of her old social media posts. The resurfaced posts in question were primarily made between 2011 and 2012, though some were made as recently as 2020.
“It’s important that white people feel defeated,” Da Costa wrote in one 2016 post made shortly after President Donald Trump’s election. Another anti-white post was made in 2020 around the time of the George Floyd Riots.
“For so long power has been in the hands of men and/or white people. It has brought us ruin,” she wrote.
Da Costa also made a number of antisemitic posts, including one in which she wrote, “money hungry Jews smh.” In texting/internet slang, “smh” stands for “shaking my head.”
“Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps,” the veteran political operative wrote in another tweet. “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train,” reads another post from the following year.
Zohran Mamdani appointee made vile antisemitic comments in unearthed social media posts https://t.co/yaE4TcdTlT pic.twitter.com/KCHbNLSNPC
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) December 18, 2025
The posts stayed up until Thursday afternoon, when Da Costa appears to have deleted her account, the New York Post reported. Before the account was taken down, the Anti-Defamation League’s New York branch asked Mamdani’s team whether they were aware of Da Costa’s online footprint.
“Her social media footprint includes posts from more than a decade ago that echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people,” the ADL posted on X. “Tweeting about ‘Money hungry Jews’ is indefensible,” the post continued, concluding with a demand for comment from both Da Costa and the mayor-elect.
Da Costa ultimately announced her resignation on Thursday evening, stating that she had become a “distraction” just a day after being appointed to the senior role. “I spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements,” she announced in a statement.
“These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.”
In a statement of his own, Mamdani confirmed to the New York Times that Da Costa had apologized and offered her resignation, which was accepted
Da Costa had previously worked under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration as part of its census team. She was set to be leaving to be leaving her current role as head of culture at the communications and marketing group Orchestra in order to bring “top talent” to Mamdani’s administration, the mayor elect’s team has said.
