James Carville blasts Mamdani for not denouncing ‘intifada’ phrase

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville blasted New York democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which is associated with violence against Israel.

Queens, New York State assemblyman Mamdani, a Ugandan-born Muslim with Indian heritage, won the race to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, but Republicans and even some Democrats have blasted the democratic socialist as too extreme.

Carville called Mamdani out during an appearance Tuesday on “The People’s Cabinet” podcast after host Daniel Koh mentioned the popularity of some of his economic ideas in New York City.

While Carville agreed the emphasis on affordability is similar to some of his own core ideas, he noted that there are generational sea changes happening in politics.

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“One of the big changes is Israel just doesn’t hold much sway with younger Jewish voters,” Carville said.

However, he bemoaned the fact that Mamdani still won’t condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.”

“Yeah, I mean, come on, man, just, s—, just get it out your mouth,” Carville said in frustration.

“Why do you think he won’t do that?” Koh asked. “I mean, that seems to be a pretty non-controversial thing to condemn, right?”

“His father is an academic, and I think ‘intifada’ has different meanings to different people, alright?” Carville suggested. “To some it means kind of ‘opposition.’ To most people, myself, it means, you know, ‘violence.’”

According to the American Jewish Committee, the phrase “calls for people from around the globe to participate in rising up against Israel.” The Second Intifada against Israel in the early 2000s was marked by Palestinian terrorism, including suicide bombings against civilian Israelis.

“Look, I’m as befuddled as you are,” Carville added. “And he’s been given every opportunity to walk it back, okay, so I am quite befuddled by it. And people that I have an enormous respect for, Jonathan Chait and Hakeem Jeffries, are like, ‘Come on, man.’ S—, this ain’t this hard. I mean, you could just see the angst in their voice.”

“It is troubling,” he concluded.

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House Minority Leader and fellow New Yorker Jeffries called out Mamdani after his win, warning, “‘Globalizing the intifada,’ by way of example, is not an acceptable phrase. He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.” 

“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he concluded.