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Mamdani roasted for ‘staged’ video performance of Hanukkah celebration

December 22, 2025 | | Print Article

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani came under fire for a “staged performance” after posting a video for Hanukkah.

The Democratic Socialist sparked heated backlash online as X users called out his antisemitic rhetoric while he shared a Hanukkah video that included actor Mandy Patinkin and his family. Mamdani was seen in the video taking part in candlelighting and other traditions in what many blasted as a contrived video.

“It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon,” Mamdani wrote in the post he shared over the weekend, which has, as of this writing, garnered over 1.4 million views.

“As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love,” he added.

“This is a new beginning that we in this family are incredibly grateful for, the city is grateful for, the world is grateful for, ” Patinkin, who is best known as Inigo Montoya in the hit film “The Princess Bride,” gushed in the video with Mamdani.

Mamdani has previously come under fire for not condemning the chant “globalize the intifada,” and has been criticized for his anti-Israel rhetoric. He accused Israel of waging a “genocidal” war as he marked the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

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“This must end. The occupation and apartheid must end,” the Queens assemblyman wrote at the time. “Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.”

Meanwhile, Patinkin has blamed the Gaza war on Jews in what many called out as shilling for the Palestinian terror organization, Hamas.

“We’re not fooled, Zohran! You were raised by an actress, and you posed with an actor, and you both delivered a script. Of course, you wouldn’t visit an ordinary Jewish family’s home,” one X user wrote in response to the mayor-elect’s video post. “This is another shameful staged performance.”

“As I have stated multiple times, Zohran is going to spend the next four years elevating the voices of anti-Israel Jewish activists and shaping the narrative that their views are mainstream,” writer Jason Curtis Anderson wrote in another post. “His path to attack Israel is through Gracie Mansion.”

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“Chanukah is about Jewish sovereignty over the Jewish homeland, something that both Zohran Mamdani and Mandy Patinkin actively fight against,” political columnist Moshe Hill commented.

While some X users thought the video clip was “beautiful” and “heartwarming,” plenty of others were not buying what Mamdani was selling.

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Frieda Powers
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