During a televised debate, Mr. Sliwa falsely accused Mr. Mamdani of supporting “global jihad.” In a radio interview, Mr. Cuomo chuckled as a conservative host on WABC said Mr. Mamdani would cheer another 9/11-style attack. And when the current mayor, Eric Adams recently endorsed Mr. Cuomo, he said the city risked falling into “Islamic extremism” as... See more

This is the “atmosphere” in its most potent form. The Muslim, or anyone perceived as such (like Mamdani, who now represents the Muslim), is not an individual but an abstract symbol. They are “covered” not as neighbors or constituents, but as potential threats, representatives of a faith and culture framed as inherently antagonistic. This creates a... See more

The accusations, therefore, were not merely a policy disagreement; they were an atmospheric Islamophobic event, an attempt to leverage one form of bigotry to enforce another and to re-center a candidate who challenges U.S. and Israeli foreign policy back to the marginalized “fringe” where the Orientalist frame insists he belongs.