Fox News Hosts Roast Zohran Mamdani for Identifying as African American
Mamdani checked both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his Columbia University application as a high school senior in 2009.
Fox & Friends hosts jumped at the chance to bash New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani Friday after it was revealed that he identified as “Black or African American” on his college application.
Charlie Hurt, co-host of President Donald Trump’s favorite show, called Mamdani a “racist” and claimed he “clearly despises America and everything that we stand for” while discussing a New York Times report that revealed Mamdani, 33, had checked both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his Columbia University application as a high school senior in 2009.
Zohran Mamdani stands with his Indian American mother Mira Nair and Indian Ugandan father Mahmood Mamdani as they celebrate during an election night on June 24.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The New York state lawmaker, a democratic socialist who became a fresh lightning rod for Trump after clinching the Democratic mayoral primary last week, told the Times he does not consider himself Black or African American. He said he checked both boxes in an attempt to “capture the fullness” of his background, not to gain an edge in the admissions process.
Mamdani, who emphasized his identity as a Muslim immigrant of South Asian descent in his campaign, was born in Uganda to an Indian Ugandan father and an Indian American mother, and lived briefly in South Africa before moving to New York City at age 7.
He was ultimately not accepted to Columbia—a fact that Fox & Friends substitute host Katie Pavlich seized on to invoke Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s past claims of Native American ancestry.
“Maybe he should call Elizabeth Warren and see how this worked out for her, but she did use it to get ahead,” Pavlich said. “So, you know, maybe there’s a difference there.”
Warren in 2019 released DNA results to prove her Native American heritage, but the move backfired sparked outrage from Cherokee leaders, and she subsequently apologized.
Tom Williams/Getty Images
Pavlich appeared to be referring to Warren, a Democrat, listing her race as “American Indian” on a State Bar of Texas registration card in 1986—though her aides later said the designation wasn’t part of her application to the bar. Warren has repeatedly apologized for identifying as Native American.
The hosts then pivoted to attacking Mamdani’s positions on housing, painting him as a communist bent on running Trump’s hometown to the ground—a familiar narrative the president and his allies have pushed since his primary win.
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