The race for New York City mayor intensified this week when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, called out socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani for owning property in Uganda despite the country’s anti-LGBT policies.
“The no-show assemblyman missed this interview while vacationing at his parents’ compound in Uganda, a country that murders LGBTQIA+ people,” Cuomo posted on X Tuesday.
“Silence is violence. I hereby call on you to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction your property in Uganda and commit to stop spending tourism dollars there until they overturn their hateful, discriminatory laws which violate basic human rights.”
Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, has faced criticism in recent days for spending the last part of June at his family’s compound in Uganda, where, according to a New York Post report, his wedding celebration was surrounded by armed guards.
Some, including GOP opponent Curtis Sliwa, called him a hypocrite for calling to defund the police for everyday New Yorkers in the past while employing tight security at his overseas wedding celebration.
Cuomo’s post alluded to Mamdani’s strident support for BDS and sanctions against Israel. which Mamdani has promoted dating back to his college days and has stood by on the campaign trail.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
Uganda has a long history of government actions against LGBT individuals, including last year, when Uganda’s Constitutional Court upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”
“Queer and trans people across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment,” Mamdani’s campaign website states.
“New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights. Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
