Politics
WATCH: Zohran Mamdani Flees Staten Island Restaurant: ‘NOT WELCOME’
Pro-communist New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was booed out of a Staten Island restaurant by a a group of conservative activists on Thursday afternoon.
Scott LoBaido, a conservative activist and artist, was on-hand to greet Mamdani as he chatted with a small group of supporters the Istanbul Bay Authentic Mediterranean Restaurant. Mamdani’s appearance was billed as an anti-Trump speaking event, where he continued with a familiar theme of labeling President Donald Trump as a “fascist” and vowing to obstruct the federal government if elected.
Outside the event, a large group of protesters drowned out introductory speakers with air horns, cowbells and anti-Mamdani chants. When the card-carrying Democratic Socialist eventually arrived at the event, he was forced to enter through a side door, though the jeers continued once inside.
“Let me tell you something, you are not welcome in this island. October 7th, you Jew hater!” LoBaido yelled as Mamdani’s security team attempted to keep him back. “Hey, Mr. Mamdani, can I talk to you? This is my island. You’re not welcome here… You hate jews, you hate this country. You hate this country. Go home!”
Protesters outside the event had similar thoughts. “Go back to where you came from. We don’t want you on Staten Island,” a protester wearing a “Trump girl” t-shirt and holding an American flag shouted at the mayoral frontrunner as he slinked out the back door.
Mamdani was hosting his third “Five Boroughs Against Trump” event of the week on Wednesday, where he vowed to oppose the administration’s immigration policies. “It saddens me to hear language of being told to go back to where I came from, and yet, it is not surprising because it is so much of what characterizes President Trump’s politics,” he said.
He further committed to returning to Staten Island despite the pushback. “I will not let it dissuade me from continuing to come to Staten Island, from continuing to speak to New Yorkers, no matter where they live, no matter what politics they have,” Mamdani said in response to the protesters. “Because I know that just as there are Republicans who feel that way, there are others who are sincere in their questions.”
Popular odds making site Polymarket is currently giving Mamdani a 75 percent chance of becoming New York’s next mayor. He is currently fending off three separate challengers, including Democrat primary rival Andrew Cuomo, perennial Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and current officeholder Eric Adams, who is running an independent campaign.
Many of the protesters outside the event told Fox News that they intend to vote for Sliwa. “He wants to make everything free. He can’t afford that. He’s a socialist. He don’t live that. We’re not socialist,” Tommy Banks, a native Staten Islander, told the outlet.
“This is Trump country,” said Manny, another protester and Wall Street retiree who said Mamdani’s policies are “anti-Wall Street.”
