Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani sharply criticized newly sworn-in Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday, accusing the Muslim leader of swearing allegiance to the Quran—a central religious text of Islam—while claiming it contains anti-Christian and anti-Jewish teachings.
“Has anyone ever read the Quran?” Giuliani said on “Newsline,” calling the work an antisemitic book, anti-Western book, and anti-Christian book.
He also alleged that Mamdani is aligned with “Islamic Orthodox” beliefs and has failed to condemn the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.
However, Giuliani stated his broader concern about Mamdani extends beyond religious ideology into public safety, asserting that “the whole movement of the Islamic Orthodox is to destroy Western civilization.”
Giuliani claimed that Mamdani maintains “warm relationships with people associated with” Hamas and accused some of the mayor’s associates of making anti-Jewish remarks.
When asked to identify his top concern among Mamdani’s stated policy goals for New Yorkers, Giuliani said his “number one thing” was what he described as “Islamic extremist” beliefs.
“I’m more concerned about his being an Islamic extremist than I am even [about him being] a communist,” Giuliani said of Mamdani, who has denied being a communist but describes himself as a democratic socialist.
“We’ve dealt with communists,” said Giuliani.
He also alleged that federal officials and prior administrations have downplayed the role of Islamist ideology in violent attacks, urging Muslims who reject extremism to speak out more forcefully.
“Yes, there are good members of Islam. Most of them are,” Giuliani said. “Most of them are [law-abiding] but most of them are too damn quiet about it.”
Giuliani predicted that Mamdani’s tenure will be damaging for the city, citing the mayor’s politics and the direction he believes the administration will take.
“You can make all the happy, happy, silly predictions you want,” Giuliani said. “The man will be a disaster.”
