Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace as governor of New York in 2021 while he faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. After an independent investigation found he sexually harassed at least 11 women, state lawmakers started impeachment efforts and leaders in his Democratic Party called for his resignation, which soon followed. Four years later, Cuomo is attempting a political comeback, running for mayor of New York City. But it’s not going well.
After losing the Democratic primary in June, he switched to be an Independent for next week’s general election. However, he’s still polling behind Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. During last week’s debate, Mamdani tore into Cuomo for sexually harassing women, using taxpayer funds to defend himself, and attempting to retaliate against those women.
“One of those women, Charlotte Bennett, is here in the audience this evening. You sought to access her private gynecological records,” Mamdani said during the debate. “She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak. What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?”
As the audience erupted with cheers and applause, Cuomo struggled for a moment to articulate a response. Then he offered what he apparently thought was a criticism of Mamdani: “If you want to be in government, then you have to be serious and mature.”
The next day, Cuomo went on a radio show whose host had previously attacked Mamdani’s Islamic faith. The host, Sid Rosenberg, had called the New York assemblyman and mayoral frontrunner an “animal,” “jihadist,” and “terrorist.” Cuomo joined in, arguing that if “God forbid” there was “another 9/11,” that Mamdani would be a dangerous mayor — in part, Cuomo suggested, because Mamdani would cheer for it.
The radio interview was not an outlier. A Cuomo Super Pac previously faced criticism for altering an image of Mamdani to give him a darker, bushier beard for a mailer designed for Jewish voters. And Cuomo’s campaign last week posted (and then pulled) an ad with AI-generated clips of Mamdani eating rice with his hands and a Black man shoplifting while wearing a kaffiyeh.
Zohran Mamdani (center) speaks during an Oct. 22, 2025, debate with Andrew Cuomo (left) and Curtis Sliwa (right) in New York City. (Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times via AP, Pool).
“We’re speaking about a former governor who, in his final moments in public life, is engaging in rhetoric that is not only Islamophobic, not only racist, it’s also disgusting,” Mamdani said after Cuomo’s segment with Rosenberg. “Andrew Cuomo’s message is to smear and slander the first Muslim candidate on the verge of leading this city where one-in-eight New Yorkers are Muslim and say that by virtue of your faith you are worthy of suspicion.”
A desperate, crooked politician who resigned his previous position because he was unfit for office apparently sees Islamophobia as his only prayer for winning. And Cuomo’s not alone. Two Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives argued that Mamdani should be stripped of his citizenship and deported. And the Republican nominee for New York mayor, who is polling a distant third, has leveled attacks against Mamdani’s faith (as did disgraced outgoing Democratic Mayor Eric Adams as he dropped out and endorsed Cuomo).
But this problem of creating a religious test for office isn’t limited to targeting Muslims nor are Democrats the only victims. In recent weeks, various Republican politicians have been attacked by MAGA voices for non-Christian beliefs or for offering kind words to Americans celebrating a non-Christian religious holiday. So this issue of A Public Witness looks at the danger of religious attacks against politicians.
Anti-Hindu Politics
Last week, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on Elon Musk’s X platform a simple “Happy Diwali” message. And then a bunch of conservative Christians went all four horsemen of the apocalypse on him.
Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists — which means millions of Americans observe the holiday. And Patel is Hindu, even being sworn in as FBI director earlier this year with his hand on the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. Yet, his simple greeting quickly drew thousands of hateful comments from pastors, prominent pundits, and others. Many included xenophobic attacks on Indians and Hindus. Numerous people told him to “go back home” as if he didn’t belong in the United States or argued he should be deported. Patel was born in New York. Many other responses also insisted this is a “Christian nation” and therefore it was wrong for him to mention Diwali.
“Go back home and worship your sand demons. Get out of my country,” wrote prominent Christian Nationalist podcaster Joel Webbon.
Other Hindu politicians faced similar bigoted responses for their Diwali posts, including Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California. Even Christian politicians found themselves hit with a barrage of criticism for offering Diwali greetings to constituents who celebrate it, including Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. President Donald Trump was also attacked by various MAGA figures for hosting a Diwali celebration in the Oval Office (something previously done by George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden). Patel and Gabbard were among those in the Oval Office for the celebration.
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