
Former New York State Governor David Paterson revealed that his family has been harassed by supporters of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani after he called on one of the candidates opposing Mamdani to drop out of the race so that the remaining candidate will have a better chance at defeating him.
Speaking with John Catsimatidis on the “Cat’s Rountable” program on WABC 770 AM, Paterson stated: “I got a whole lot of nasty, negative phone calls — really vitriolic — from Mamdani supporters." He added that they "called my home. They called my wife. It was really kind of difficult for those 48 hours after the press conference.”
Paterson cited Mamdani's youth and inexperience, as well as his extremism, in calling for either Andrew Cuomo or incumbent Mayor Eric Adams to drop out of the race so the public can unite around one candidate.
Paterson served as Governor of New York from 2008-2010.
Following his nomination last month, it was reported that Mamdani revealed in 2020 that the issue of "Palestine" is what got him into politics rather than the concerns of New Yorkers.
Mamdani's victory in the Democratic primaries has raised fears in New York's Jewish community over his extreme anti-Israel policies. Mamdani condemned Israel less than two days after the October 7 massacre committed by Hamas, before Israel had begun its retaliation for the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. He also refused to support legislation condemning the Holocaust and has defended the phrase "globalize the Intifada," widely understood as a call for violence against Jews around the world.