GOP Senator Calls Mamdani a “Thug,” Says He Should Be Imprisoned in Gitmo

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Alabama) has called for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be imprisoned in the notorious Guantanámo Bay torture camp, labelling the Muslim politician a “thug” amid a rise in racist and Islamophobic attacks against him ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

In an interview with far right podcaster Benny Johnson, Tuberville falsely labeled Mamdani a communist, repeating a debunked falsehood favored by Republicans that Mamdani lied about his being a communist on his naturalization form.

The senator did not offer any other allegations of illegal activity by Mamdani, but still said that he should be sent to Guantánamo Bay, the prison camp established to house Muslims accused of being “terrorists” during the start of the Global War on Terror.

“Sooner or later he will do something more stupid than what he’s done, to where we’ll finally say, ‘enough’s enough. Go put the handcuffs on him and get him the hell out of here,’” said Tuberville. “Send him to Gitmo. Because this guy hates this country. He wants to change it. And it’s not going to happen.”

He went on to say that people with “socialism, communism syndrome” have “infiltrated” the U.S.’s intelligence agencies, and that those people should be thrown into Guantánamo Bay. This should be done without giving people due process, Tuberville says, because “they do not deserve” to be “even on trial in this country,” he said.

Last week, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also called for Mamdani to be arrested for supposedly “promot[ing] antisemitism” after Mamdani called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to face arrest for his role in committing genocide in Gaza.

This is just the latest Islamophobic attack on Mamdani by Tuberville. The mayor has previously condemned Tuberville for reposting an Islamophobic post on X in March from account “End Wokeness.” The original post said, “Less than 25 years apart,” with a photo of the 9/11 attack and a screencap from Mamdani hosting an Iftar event at New York City Hall.

“The enemy is inside the gates,” Tuberville wrote.

Mamdani has previously spoken out about the Islamophobia he’s experienced as a Muslim, and especially as a Muslim public figure. On the campaign trail last year, Mamdani gave an emotional speech discussing the hate that Muslims often face.

“Growing up in the shadow of 9/11, I have known what it means to live with an undercurrent of suspicion in this city. I will always remember the disdain I faced,” Mamdani said. “The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated the same as any other New Yorker.”

Indeed, right wingers have recently embraced another Islamophobic smear campaign against Mamdani. With Mamdani soon slated to speak at the 25th anniversary of 9/11, right wing outlets like the New York Post, CBS, and Fox have run articles and segments on a viral claim that families of the victims want the mayor to be barred from attending the ceremony.

They say that “thousands” of families of the victims support this idea, citing a petition on Change.org started by a man named Giovanni Galante, whose wife was killed in the attack. CBS reported that there were 23,000 signatures on the petition, which it characterizes as a “Petition from 9/11 families.”

But, as Popular Information reported, the claim that “thousands” of 9/11 victims’ families had signed the petition was a lie. Galante, a registered Republican, told Popular Information that there was no verification that those signing the petition were family members of the victims. He claimed that roughly 300 signatures were from victims’ families, because: “We all know each other, so … think about it. If you know 10 people and they give it to 10 more people they know that lost. That’s how we got the 300 number.”

Still, conservatives have leapt at the chance to spread more Islamophobic claims about Mamdani. In a segment on Fox Business that garnered 70,000 views on Youtube, host Cheryl Casone said that, “if it was 25 years ago, he’d probably be supporting the attackers.” She said Mamdani “is not on the side of Jewish Americans, and he certainly does not seem to have much sorrow about 9/11.”

Mamdani responded to the claims on Monday and said that he still plans to attend the ceremony. He said that he plans to “proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration.”

The Wall Street Journal also faced criticism this week for publishing an op-ed criticizing Mamdani that used a picture in which a man was holding up a cutout of Mamdani’s head with a photoshopped headband resembling those worn by Hamas militants. The picture was labelled by critics as “virulently anti-Muslim” and “wildly Islamophobic.”