Socialist Candidate’s Resurfaced Post Showing Him Flipping Off Columbus Statue Sparks Outrage

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash after an old photo of him flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus resurfaced online.

The image, posted by Mamdani in June 2020 during nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death, shows him giving the middle finger to the statue with the caption “Take it down.”

That summer, riots swept cities across the country, including New York, with activists demanding the removal of statues depicting contentious historical figures like Columbus. (RELATED: Socialist Politician’s Agenda Is A Direct Attack On Working Families)

Take it down. pic.twitter.com/7Bmis8hnnh

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 18, 2020

Just days before Mamdani’s 2020 post, rioters in Richmond, Virginia, toppled a Columbus statue, while demonstrators in Boston beheaded another. In Minnesota, rioters tore down a Columbus statue outside the state capitol, the Daily Caller reported at the time.

Italian Americans have led the backlash against Mamdani, condemning his disdain for one of the community’s most prominent historical figures.

Angelo Vivolo, president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition in New York City, vowed to keep fighting for both Columbus Day and the statues.

“He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community,” Vivolo told the New York Post. “If you offend one community, you offend all communities.”

Italian Americans make up roughly 8% of New York City’s population, according to Joseph Scelsa, founder and president of the Italian American Museum.

“Who’s to say who is a hero and who is not a hero? Columbus is our hero,” Scelsa told the Post.

Criticism of Mamdani’s post also flared on social media. Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, Mayor Jondavid Longo, himself an Italian American, wrote on X that his community “deserve[s] so much better” than candidates like Mamdani.

Americans of Italian descent, especially those who are the ancestors of the men and women who built New York City deserve so much better than you.

— Mayor Jondavid “JD” Longo (@JondavidRLongo) July 7, 2025

Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, upset former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary, winning over 43% of first-choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36%. (RELATED: Democrat Leadership Lines Up To Kiss The Ring Of NYC’s Socialist Starlet Zohran Mamdani)

He is set to face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in the general election this November.