Mamdani had visited a Brooklyn mosque on October 18 as part of his election campaign, where he was seen laughing and posing for photos with Wahhaj. The images quickly went viral, prompting Trump to post on social media:
“This is a disaster waiting to happen. How shameful that someone like Siraj Wahhaj is supporting Mamdani. He’s friendly with the people who blew up the World Trade Center.”
Vice President and Republicans react
Vice President JD Vance also criticized Mamdani, writing on X (formerly Twitter):
“Democrats claim to oppose all political violence. I’m waiting to see when they’ll condemn Mamdani, who is campaigning alongside a man accused of terrorist ties.”
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa added that New York “needs a mayor who protects people from terrorism, not one who embraces extremists.”
Mamdani responds
In response, Mamdani said he was being targeted for his faith, calling the controversy politically motivated. He claimed his campaign is gaining momentum ahead of the November 4, 2025 New York mayoral election.
Who is Imam Siraj Wahhaj?
Born James Lawrence, Wahhaj converted to Islam in the 1970s as a protest against racial discrimination. After his conversion, he became an influential figure in New York’s Muslim community and began advocating social causes.
In the early 2000s, Wahhaj delivered a sermon urging Muslims to form an “army of 10,000 men” for a “gun-free jihad”—which he described as a peaceful demonstration for Muslim rights, not a violent uprising.
However, Wahhaj’s name appeared in investigations into the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as several conspirators were linked to him. In 1995, he controversially said that if American Muslims united, they could choose their own leader instead of voting for mainstream candidates like Bush or Clinton.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing
Eight years before 9/11, the first major terror attack on American soil took place on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb carrying 1,200 kg of explosives detonated in the North Tower’s parking garage.
The attackers aimed to collapse one tower onto the other, but failed. The explosion carved a 30-meter-wide crater, killed six people, and injured over 1,000.
Investigators traced the vehicle’s serial number to Al-Qaeda operative Ramzi Yousef, who was arrested in Pakistan in 1995 and later sentenced to life in prison.
Experts later argued that had the 1993 attack been treated with greater urgency, the September 11, 2001 attacks might have been prevented. A memorial at the original site reads:
“This is the place where terrorism first touched America.”
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