Partnership for New York City represents the heart of the city’s corporate community. The group’s members find the rise of Zohran Mamdani worrisome. The group invited him to a closed meeting on Tuesday. Several prominent members of the group sat this one out. They have a pretty good handle on the guy. They have a better handle on the guy than the Journal reporters.
Three Wall Street Journal reporters interviewed some who attended to figure out who said what to whom. The Journal’s story ran under the headline “Mamdani Clarifies ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Stance in Meeting With Business Elites.”
Several prominent members of the Partnership sat this one out. They have a pretty good handle on the guy. They have a better handle on the guy than the Journal reporters:
Zohran Mamdani said he would discourage the use of the slogan “globalize the intifada” in a roughly hourlong meeting with some of New York City’s most powerful executives on Tuesday, seeking to defuse an issue that has prompted a backlash from the business community and beyond….
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla and Rob Speyer, CEO of the real-estate firm Tishman Speyer, moderated the event, which also included questions from the audience.
Bourla, the son of Holocaust survivors, confronted Mamdani about the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which some see as a call for violence against Jews. In a response that lasted several minutes, Mamdani said that, for him, the phrase means protest against the Israeli occupation of Gaza.
He said he is willing to discourage the specific language, but not the idea behind it.
As always, some translation is required. Did that “response” appease Bourla? The Journal story is silent on that point. I’m guessing Bourla is not that stupid.
In its newsletter this morning, the Washington Free Beacon provides substantive clarification of Mamdani’s steadfast support for “globalizing the intifada”: “Mamdani said he stands by ‘the idea’ the anti-Semitic phrase represents, otherwise known as terrorism.”
The New York Post also covered the Mamdani meeting with three reporters. Their story is published under the headline “Zohran Mamdani sticks to socialist guns, ‘Tax the rich’ plan during highly anticipated sitdown with NYC big business leaders.” They report a quote from one of those in attendance that captures seems to capture the gist of the meeting better than the Journal’s story: “He talks so much and says so little.”
The New York Times covered the meeting with only two reporters. Their story is posted here. Despite the shortage of manpower on the story, the Times came away with this quote:
“Today’s meeting made it clear to me that I need to do everything in my power to make sure Zohran Mamdani does not become mayor of New York City,” said Jon Henes, the founder of C Street Advisory Group, a communications consulting firm. “His complete lack of executive experience, his naïve understanding of how the world works and his rigidly ideological views, including socialism, would be dangerous for the city’s future.”
Mr. Henes was evidently able to translate Mamdani’s mumbo jumbo in English without help. The Times story also suggests that Mamdani had no substantive response to Albert Bourla’s concerns:
Mr. Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, has repeatedly expressed sadness over the plight of the Palestinian people. He also teared up on the campaign trail as he recalled the “dehumanizing language” he had faced, including a message he received that said, “The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”
After his comments about the term “globalize the intifada” received scrutiny, Mr. Mamdani said he understood the concerns among Jewish New Yorkers over antisemitism and highlighted his plan to increase funding for anti-hate-crime programs.
Again, we have yet to hear Mr. Bourla’s assessment of Mandani’s response. I’m thinking the “anti-hate-crime program” Mamdani has in mind would comport with “globalizing the intifada” and the increase in funding to pay for it would come from the profits generated by city-owned grocery stores.
