Stefanik SHREDS Hochul for Elevating ‘Terrorist Sympathizer’

New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, now running for governor, unleashed a blistering attack on Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, blasting her “cowardly silence” after New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani endorsed Palestinian activist Aber Kawas for the State Assembly.

Stefanik argued that Hochul — who endorsed Mamdani during his mayoral campaign — now “owns” his decision to elevate a figure she calls a “terrorist sympathizer.” She demanded that Hochul publicly denounce both Mamdani’s endorsement and what she described as the “anti-American and antisemitic filth” being mainstreamed in New York politics.

“Kathy Hochul endorsed Mamdani and now owns his latest public endorsement of radical activist Aber Kawas for New York State Assembly, a proud terrorist sympathizer and denigrator of the United States,” Stefanik said in a statement. “Kawas notoriously blamed America for 9/11, which claimed the lives of thousands of New Yorkers, citing the United States’ system of capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia as justification for the terrorist attacks that killed New Yorkers. It is clear that Mamdani owns and controls the Worst Governor in America, Kathy Hochul, as she cowardly remains silent on the anti-American and antisemitic filth spewed by the incoming Mayor and his endorsed candidates. Kathy Hochul must condemn Mamdani’s endorsement of Kawas immediately.”

In 2017, Kawas stated that “the system of capitalism and racism, and white supremacy, et cetera, have all, and Islamophobia, have all been used to colonize lands, right, to take resources from other people, and so this is, like, a long trajectory. And we’re just seeing the manifestations of that continuation, right, with 9/11.”

The controversy erupted after Mamdani — a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the incoming mayor — backed Kawas at a closed-door DSA meeting.

Let this sink in. The Worst Governor in America @KathyHochul bent the knee, endorsed, and propped up Commie Mamdani. He rose because of Hochul.

This allowed him to endorse a radical who blames America for the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/AubdYPAoU4

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 19, 2025