Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is coming under fire for posing for a picture with a terrorist sympathizer.
Mamdani attended prayers at a Mosque in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Friday. He posted a picture on social media showing him posing with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who was listed among “potential conspirators” tied to an investigation into the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.
This should be disqualifying for any city mayoral candidate, ESPECIALLY New York City.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) October 20, 2025
Taking pictures with Siraj Wahhaj, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and known terrorist sympathizer is UNACCEPTABLE. pic.twitter.com/O9ijeaWXmG
In the post, Mamdani referred to Wahajj as “one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century.”
Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. I was also joined by CM @dr_yusefsalaam of Harlem. A beautiful Jummah. pic.twitter.com/4kcN4CGlUk
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) October 18, 2025
Wahajj has employed fiery rhetoric against America, calling the country “a garbage can” and referring to it as “filthy and sick.”
He exhorted Muslims to “get involved in politics because politics can be a weapon to use to aid the cause of Islam.”
Here's Mamdani's Imam, Siraj Wahhaj, calling America "filthy" and "sick", saying it's an honor to die in Jihad and saying that getting involved in "politics is a weapon in the cause of Islam" pic.twitter.com/eBR4SoI7X6
— Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) October 19, 2025
Retired FBI agent Frank Pellegrino, who investigated the World Trade Center attack, told Fox News Digital that Mamdani’s “embrace of Siraj Wahhaj is na example of Mamdani’s ignorance of history” and that “either he doesn’t know who Wahhaj is or he doesn’t care.”
John Anticev, who was the lead agent investigating the attack said political candidates “should be aware of the people whose endorsement they’re getting” and said Wahhaj “has endorsed a radical agenda.”
Wahhaj has led the Masjid At-Taqwa since the 1950s. In 1991, he became the first Muslim to deliver an invocation before the US House of Representatives. Federal authorities listed him as an unindicted co-conspirator after some of the men who were involved in the terrorist plot attended his mosque or knew him personally. However, he was never charged with a crime. He has maintained that he does not support extremism but advocates for Muslim civic engagement.
As the agents said, either Mamdani knew about Wahajj's issues, or his team failed to properly vet him before allowing him to show up at his mosque. Either way, it's a political mistake. But at this point, Mamdani enjoys a decisive lead over his opponents, and it is doubtful that enough New Yorkers will care enough to vote against him.