MSNBC host Joe Scarborough took issue on Wednesday morning with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt’s “blurring and blending” of the lines with his criticism of Zohran Mamdani, who has faced accusations of antisemitism from conservative critics and Jewish organizations.
In the wake of Mamdani’s decisive victory in the New York City mayoral race, Greenblatt announced that the ADL was launching a “Mamdani Monitor” to track the mayor-elect’s policies and personnel appointments. Besides researching the Mamdani administration, the initiative will also include a tip line to report antisemitism related to City Hall.
“Mayor-Elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers,” Greenblatt said in a statement.
“We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration at a time when we are tracking a brazen surge of harassment, vandalism and violence targeting Jewish residents and institutions in recent years,” he added.
Mamdani, who became the first-ever Muslim mayor of New York City, has been outspoken on his views about Israel’s war in Gaza and his fight for Palestinian rights. At the same time, he has pushed back against criticism – including from his mayoral opponent Andrew Cuomo – that his stance towards Israel is antisemitic, and his campaign increasingly gained the support of young and progressive Jewish voters.
“We will build a city hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism,” Mamdani said during his victory speech on Tuesday night. “Where the more than one million Muslims know that they belong — not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.”
During Wednesday’s broadcast of Morning Joe, Greenblatt accused the incoming mayor of saying he would not work with the ADL before referencing his organization’s “monitor” of Mamdani’s administration. This also featured him looking directly into the camera and telling Jewish New Yorkers, “We have your back.”
He also brought up Mamdani’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes non-violent economic actions against Israel in response to its occupation of Palestinian territories and infringement of Palestinian rights.
“I want to know, is he going to change the purchasing policies because of his ideological commitment to BDS, potentially hurting the pocketbooks of New Yorkers?” Grennblatt wondered. “Look, he won yesterday, and I saw the previous segment, amazing numbers. People care about affordability in this city, and I get that. But as an organization that’s seen levels of anti-Jewish hate that literally have broken records every year, my job is to keep them safe, and we won’t stop.”
After co-host Willie Geist noted that Mamdani “makes a distinction, as many people do, between Jews in New York and the state of Israel,” Greenblatt asserted that while there is “room to criticize the policies of the state of Israel,” he worries about the recent acts of violence against American Jews.
With Greenblatt directly referencing the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s house and “an elderly person firebombed” in Colorado, Scarborough appeared to call out the ADL head for seemingly conflating separate issues.
“We’re all shocked, and we all find this abhorrent. And I’m sure that the next mayor would say the same thing, wouldn’t he?” Scarborough wondered, prompting Greenblatt to respond: “You have to ask him.”
The Morning Joe star, meanwhile, pointed out that Mamdani has “said the same thing” before bringing up that the soon-to-be mayor has been “talking to the Jewish community” and attending high holiday services.
“That’s not exactly right. He went to anti-Zionist synagogue, which is like going to the black breakout at CPAC and saying, you understand African Americans. I mean, come on,” Greenblatt huffed.
Pressed by Scarborough over Mamdani’s meetings with Jewish groups, the ADL chief acknowledged that while “he has been to synagogues” and “has Jewish people working for him,” he has yet to see Mamdani “engage” with what he described as mainstream Jewish institutions.
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At that point, Scarborough asked if Greenblatt was suggesting that Mamdani supported the Colorado firebombing, leading Greenblatt to insist he “never said that” and sparking a heated back-and-forth between the two.
“No! There’s a lot of blurring and blending here, Jonathan. And, you know, I love you and you’re on all the time. And we’re always a fierce defender of yours. But you seem to be like, blurring a lot of things together,” the MSNBC host shot back, adding that Greenblatt also looked into the camera to urge Jewish New Yorkers to call him if they felt unsafe.
“How about you calling his team? Mamdani’s team? Or how about talking to people who may know him and you?” Scarborough continued. “Talk to Reverend Al [Sharpton]. Maybe you guys can get together and have lunch and talk. Isn’t that a more constructive thing to do?”
In the end, Greenblatt claimed that he was “willing to have hard conversations” with Mamdani because his “job” is to keep the Jewish community safe, adding that he’s “not accusing him of those things.”
“What I want to make sure is he doesn’t create an environment where Jewish people are unsafe. He doesn’t create an environment where global intifada becomes a mantra,” Greenblatt concluded, invoking a phrase that Mamdani has defended but does not use himself.
In a speech on Wednesday, Mamdani reacted to the ADL’s “monitor” by noting that he had yet to meet with Greenblatt, reiterating his commitment to fight antisemitism in the city.
“I look forward to working with Jewish leaders across this city, whether they're elected officials, rabbis, or community leaders, to deliver on the promise of not just protecting Jewish New Yorkers, but celebrating and cherishing them in the same city,” he said.
As for the ADL’s initiative, he said he had no issue with anyone keeping track of his administration’s actions, but that he doubted “Jonathan's ability to do so honestly, given that he previously said that I had not visited any synagogues, only to have to correct himself.”
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