Italian Americans Outraged Over Zohran Mamdani's 2020 Post On Christopher Columbus Statue

Last Updated:July 08, 2025, 10:51 IST

Mamdani earned the ire of Italian Americans over an old post, where he showed the middle finger to a Christopher Columbus statue in Astoria and called for it to be taken down.

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. (Reuters)

Italian-Americans have been outraged at New York mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani after an old social media post of him showing the middle finger to a statue of Christopher Columbus in Astoria resurfaced online.

Mamdani, who managed an unexpected win in the race to become New York’s next mayor, was seen giving the middle finger to the back of the statue in Astoria, part of his state Assembly district, in a tweet from June 2020. “Take it down," he wrote, calling for the removal of the statue.

Mamdani was running for state office when he uploaded the post. However, it has offended Italian American groups in New York, including the Columbus Heritage Coalition, according to the New York Post.

Angelo Vivolo, the group’s president, vowed not to support the left-wing candidate in the mayoral race this November. “He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community," he told the Post. “If you offend one community, you offend all communities."

Italians make up 8% of New York’s population, according to Joseph Scelsa, the founder and president of the Italian American Museum, and Columbus was a “hero" for the community.

“To eliminate such a large population of people would be a travesty. It’s not inclusive. It’s exclusionary. Who’s to say who is a hero and who is not a hero? Columbus is our hero," he said.

Many left-wing politicians have targeted Columbus statues and Columbus Day because of the famed explorer’s treatment of Native Americans when sailing to North America. His supporters argue that he was important to Italian Americans, and his voyage was a critical moment in history.

Mamdani engineered a massive political upset in New York City after he defeated his nearest rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, and won the Democratic primary for mayor by a strong margin.

However, he has faced intense scrutiny and trolling for his socialist policies and threats to defund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and police, with US President Donald Trump joining other Republicans into calling him a “100% Communist Lunatic."

Aveek Banerjee

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...Read More

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...

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New York, United States of America (USA)

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News world Italian Americans Outraged Over Zohran Mamdani's 2020 Post On Christopher Columbus Statue