Fact Check: Did Zohran Mamdani face removal over wife’s social media activity?

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Following the row surrounding New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife liking social media posts celebrating the October 7 Hamas attack, a rumor has been circulating online claiming that the city’s council voted to remove the mayor after he defended his wife, Rama Duwaji, for her social media activity. Let us fact-check the claim.

Claim: New York City Council voted to remove Zohran Mamdani

The claim originated on Facebook, with different variations of the post spreading on other platforms such as X and Instagram.

The post came with a picture of Kathy Hochul, Zohran Mamdani, and his wife, accompanied by a text stating, “The New York City Council voted 22-14 to ask Governor Hochul to remove Zohran Mamdani after he defended his wife's heinous social media activity. ‘That's not what the people of this city voted for.’”

The post garnered more than a hundred thousand views and thousands of likes, with those commenting under the post believing the claim to be authentic.

Fact Check: False, the claim originated as a satire

The claim, however, is false, as there are no official reports or statements from the New York City Council or the Governor.

Moreover, the post came from a popular parody account, ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’, which states itself in its bio as, “Nothing on this page is real.”

A search on Google for the claim also did not generate any results supporting the claim, which, if true, would have been widely covered by prominent news media outlets.

A fact check by Grok stated that, “There is no evidence from recent news reports, searches across multiple sources, or official records indicating any such vote, expulsion, censure, or removal action by the NYC Council related to this matter.”

Zohran Mamdani defends wife's social media activity

Following the criticisms surrounding the controversial Instagram posts liked by Duwaji, Mamdani defended his wife, saying, “My wife is the love of my life, and she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall.”

“I, however, was elected to represent all 8.5 million people in the city. And I believe that it’s my responsibility because of that role to answer questions about my thoughts and my politics, and my stances.”

According to a spokesperson, Mamdani 'has condemned that violence unequivocally' and reaffirmed that Hamas is a terrorist organization.