Actress Debra Messing faces backlash after calling Zohran Mamdani a 'jihadist'

Published on 06/11/2025 - 13:15 GMT+1

Debra Messing, nan American character champion known for her domiciled arsenic Grace Adler connected nan celebrated sitcom Will & Grace, is facing aggravated backlash aft sharing violative posts astir New York City’s caller mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

The Democratic Socialist candidate, 34, won nan election aft receiving 50.4 per cent of nan vote. His triumph is historic, arsenic Mamdani is Muslim, calved successful Uganda, and moved to nan US arsenic a young boy. He became a US national aft graduating from assemblage and he will go nan youngest politician of nan largest metropolis successful nan US successful much than a century.

Not that this impresses Messing, who has shared respective memes and videos connected her Instagram communicative astir nan election, including videos calling Mamdani "Osama bin Mamdani" and encouraging New Yorkers to "vote nary to terrorism."

Messing, who is Jewish and a staunch advocator for Israel, reshared posts attacking Mamdani's support for Palestine and has publically identified his volunteers.

While captious of Donald Trump, having antecedently called him “liar-in-chief”, Messing besides reshared a Truth Social station from Donald Trump calling Mamdani a "JEW HATER".

Mamdani has said that he would not tolerate antisemitism and successful a June interview, stated: "I support Israel's correct to beryllium arsenic a authorities pinch adjacent rights. I'm not comfortable supporting immoderate authorities that has a level of citizenship connected nan ground of belief aliases thing else."

Messing besides reposted a meme that suggested Mamdani is "An Actual Communist , Jihadist… A literal Karl Marx-quoting, America-hating jihadist."

On societal media, critics person called retired nan “deeply Islamophobic” quality of immoderate of Messings posts and referred to her posts arsenic a “social media crash-out”, pinch 1 X personification watching that Messing "has posted 91 Instagram stories successful nan past 24 hours. Not an exaggeration. I deliberation Zohran has really surgery her brain."

Check retired immoderate of nan reactions below:

Zohran Mamdani becomes Mayor of New York City connected 1 January 2026.