In a Thursday article entitled “Mamdani Faces Attacks After Comments About Hamas,” New York Times city hall bureau chief Emma Fitzsimmons got more offended that people have condemned mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for not saying Hamas should disarm and disband than the actual comments themselves.
Fitzsimmons, sounding more like a far-left op-ed columnist than a reporter, began by lamenting, “Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, faced vitriolic attacks that suggested he was a terrorist sympathizer after he gave an indirect answer to a question on Wednesday about whether Hamas should lay down arms and step aside in Gaza.”
After several quotes from GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen, and a top advisor to mayoral opponent Andrew Cuomo denouncing Memandi as a “jihadist” (Stefanik) and “unfit to hold any office in the United States” (Gillen), Fitzsimmons hyped, “His allies described the rhetoric as xenophobic and dangerous.” 
She then quotes Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec as saying, “We should call these comments out for what they are: lazy Islamophobic attacks on the Democratic nominee poised to become our city’s first Muslim mayor.”
The headline, as bad as it is, is still a damage control attempt after the original headline included the adjective “Islamophobic” to describe the “attacks,” meaning that The New York Times wants to portray the Mamdani campaign’s statement as the truth.
Eventually, Fitzsimmons got to the actual controversy. Mamdani, who never shuts up about Israel and “genocide,” suddenly punted when asked by Fox News host Martha MacCallum about what he thinks should happen to Hamas, “I don’t really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel beyond the question of justice and safety and the fact that anything has to abide by international law, and that applies to Hamas, that applies to the Israeli military and that applies to anyone you could ask me about.”
After more quotes from Stefanik and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleging Mamdani was catering to “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” Fitzsimmons went to bat for Team Mamdani, “Mr. Mamdani has not called for genocide against Jews or expressed support for Hamas. The term jihadist refers to a Muslim person engaged in a holy war against enemies of Islam. Mr. Mamdani has condemned violence in the Middle East and said that his criticism of Israel was based on his concerns for Palestinians and a ‘shared sense of humanity.’”
Stefanik’s reference to genocide includes Mamdani defending “Globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea,” but Fitzsimmons didn’t think that was important enough to mention. What she did find interesting was a case of weapons-grade case whataboutism. Displaying some serious whiplash, Fitzsimmons wrote, “The comments from Ms. Stefanik came as she faced criticism over her connections to a Young Republicans group in New York whose members sent offensive text messages that were revealed by Politico. The messages used racist and misogynistic language and expressed admiration for Hitler.”
Why does that matter? Fitzsimmons’s very next paragraph made clear that Stefanik denounced the messages and demanded resignations. Nevertheless, Fitzsimmons still hyped Gov. Kathy Hochul urging Stefanik to “Look at your inflammatory words,” because “Maybe they have an effect on these young people.”
Unlike Israel, Hamas actually is a genocidal terrorist organization, and the frontrunner to be the mayor of the country’s largest city and hero of progressives everywhere cannot even bring himself to say it should disarm. That’s the story, not Elise Stefanik’s reaction.
