NYC Mayor’s Wife Faces Backlash Over Insincere Apology for Controversial Tweets

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife is under intense criticism following her lukewarm apology for past social media posts in which she used racial slurs and made homophobic comments. Notably absent from her apology was any mention of her controversial posts that appeared to support terrorism.

Rama Duwaji, 28, recently expressed regret regarding inappropriate content she posted on her X and Tumblr accounts during her teenage years and early twenties.

“When a tabloid recently resurfaced old tweets from my teenage years, I felt profound shame when confronted with the harmful language I used; being 15 doesn’t excuse it,” New York City’s first lady told Hyperallergic.

“I have read and considered the reactions of others, and I understand the pain I caused. I am truly sorry,” she added.

However, many online were quick to point out that Duwaji’s apology did not extend to her posts that praised the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, or her support for Palestinian terrorists.

The Washington Free Beacon, which uncovered the posts in a March 18 report that linked the posts to her using facial recognition software, noted that Duwaji was in her early 20s when she shared posts lauding Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Leila Khaled, who participated in plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970.

In 2015, at the age of 17, Duwaji also shared a post honoring Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, who bombed an Israeli bus, as the ‘first Palestinian woman to fight in resistance after 1967 occupation.’

‘Duwaji did not attribute her Ghazaleh post to youthful ignorance,’ the Free Post noted. 

Rama Duwaji, 28, who is married to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, issued an apology in an interview following a report by the Washington Free Beacon of her history of inappropriate posts made online in her teenage years and early twenties

The discovery of the First Lady of New York City’s purported profile comes shortly after she made headlines for liking posts that celebrated the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel 

More recently, Duwaji called reports that Hamas was sexually assaulting Israelis on October 7 a ‘mass rape hoax,’ Free Press reporter Olivia Reingold added in her own post on X on Wednesday.

She even provided illustrations for an essay by Susan Abulhawa, an author who called the October 7 attack ‘spectacular’ and blasted Jewish Israelis as ‘vampires’ and ‘rootless, soulless ghouls,’ according to the Free Beacon.

Mayor Mamdani has since called those remarks ‘reprehensible.’

But online, many hit out at Duwaji for not speaking out about her posts herself. 

‘Rama Duwaji was NOT 15 when she shared a post calling Jews filth and other racial slurs,’ one X user wrote in response to reports about the New York City First Lady’s apology.

‘And NO ARTIST accepts a job not knowing what’s involved [with] author and story. AND it has since come out the affiliation with the Mamdanis and “the author” go back 15 years.

‘THEY ARE ALL LYING TO SAVE FACE,’ the X user concluded.

Conservative commentator Paul Szypula echoed those remarks in his own post.

‘Rama isn’t really sorry,’ he claimed. ‘She’s just sorry she got caught.’

‘Her “apology” was probably drafted by one of Mayor Mamdani’s PR people to cover for Rama’s vile beliefs.’ 

Duwaji did not apologize for her posts celebrating Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 or supporting Palestinian terrorists

Duwaji allegedly made a post to X in 2013 which used the N-word

The New York City First Lady’s history of hateful content appeared to begin in 2013, when she used a vile racial slur in a tweet to a friend.

The post reads: ‘Helllll yeah, n****. Super duper genius* excuse you.’

That same year, the same account posted a list of new followers, referring to them with an apparent homophobic slur. 

‘Whyyyyyy are all these fgts folllowing [sic] meeeeeeeee,’ the post read. 

But just two years later, Duwaji appeared to start posting about Israel – and allegedly even re-shared content that blamed the creation of Al-Qaeda on white people.

‘You can’t blame Muslims for terrorism because they didn’t construct, fund, or train Al-Qaeda,’ read the upload to Tumblr, which came when Duwaji was in her 20s. ‘White people did that, too.’

The account also took aim at US troops, noting how they were not brave and were ‘mercilessly slaughtering third world civilians to maintain American hegemony.’

A spokesman for Duwaji told the New York Times that she had no comment when asked what content the first lady was apologizing for.

The content appeared to have been deleted from the accounts when the Daily Mail conducted a search.

The first lady of New York also appears to have taken aim at US troops in 2015, noting how they were not brave

One image from the post she liked showed a bulldozer used by Hamas to break through into Israel on that day in which nearly 1,200 people died

The discovery of the posts came shortly after she made headlines for liking posts that celebrated the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, including one that called reports of sexual violence a ‘mass rape hoax.’

The post made by leftist group The Slow Factory included images of groups of people after having taken over an IDF vehicle, with ‘Free Palestine’ scrawled over it.

Another image said: ‘Breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation’, followed by the date.

The image showed a bulldozer used by the group to break through into Israel on that day, in which nearly 1,200 people died. 

But Mamdani has dodged questions about her liking a post in support of the October 7 attack. 

‘My wife is the love of my life, and she is also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall,’ the mayor previously said.

When he was then asked whether Duwaji felt any remorse over her more recent posts on Thursday, Mamdani refused to directly answer the question.

‘You know, she shared some of her reflections in this interview,’ he said of his wife’s apology. ‘I won’t add much to them.’

‘What I will say, however, is that she is someone of incredible integrity, she is someone I am lucky to call my wife and that I am proud of her each and every day.’ 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Duwaji for comment.