Rep. Andy Ogles, Tennessee Republican, urged the Justice Department to open an investigation into New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, saying that he may have violated the terms of his naturalized citizenship by supporting terrorism and thus should be deported.
In a Thursday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Mr. Ogles cited a report that Mr. Mamdani expressed solidarity with the Holy Land Foundation in a 2017 rap track, rapping “My love for the Holy Land Five/You better look ‘em up.”
The pro-Israel Canary Mission, which unearthed the track, said the “Holy Land Five” refers to five men who were convicted of funding over $12 million to Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
The Canary Mission said the track record shows that Mr. Mamdani is “unfit for office.”
Mr. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda in 1991 and became a naturalized citizen in 2018, has served in the New York Assembly since 2020. He defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor in Tuesday’s election.
“The naturalization process depends on good-faith disclosure of any affiliation with, or support for, groups that threaten U.S. national security,” said Mr. Ogles in his letter. “If Mr. Mamdani concealed relevant associations, that concealment may constitute a material misrepresentation sufficient to support denaturalization under federal law.”
Joining Mr. Ogles was the New York Young Republican Club, which issued a “call for action” urging President Trump to deport Mr. Mamdani under the Communist Control Act, a little-enforced 1954 law that has been described as unconstitutional.
“The radical Zohran Mamdani cannot be allowed to destroy our beloved city of New York,” the club on X.
Mr. Ogles also warned that Mr. Mamdani would “destroy the great city of New York” if elected mayor of the Big Apple.
Mr. Mamdani faces incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, in the November election
Mr. Mamdani has been active in the anti-Israel protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, which prompted Israel to declare war, but he has insisted there is “no room for antisemitism in this city or this country.”
He has also decried the “dehumanizing language” used against him, while his campaign said he has been the victim of Islamophobia. The New York Police Department has launched a hate crimes investigation into threats against the candidate.
