Remember Zohran Mamdani’s 'aunt' who was too afraid to wear her hijab on the subway after 9/11? Turns out, she’s actually his dad’s cousin.
Facing mounting backlash, the socialist mayoral frontrunner came clean at a Monday press conference—after critics flooded social media with photos of a woman they said was his aunt, notably pictured without a hijab.
“I was talking about Zehra Fuhi—my father’s cousin, who passed away a few years ago,” Mamdani said, adding that he’d always called her his aunt with affection.
Zohran Mamdani said his “aunt” was so terrified after 9/11 that she stopped taking the New York City subway altogether.
In Urdu and Hindi, Fuhi isn’t just a name—it means “paternal aunt.”
Asked for her full name, Mamdani’s campaign wouldn’t give it.
Social media lit up with questions after an emotional Mamdani, his voice breaking on Friday, recounted how his “aunt” gave up riding the New York City subway out of fear and Islamophobia following the 9/11 attacks.
"In an era of ever-diminishing bipartisanship, it seems that Islamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement," Mamdani said, blasting Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Mayor Eric Adams for what he described as anti-Muslim attacks on his campaign.
"I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab," he said, his voice breaking during an emotional speech outside the Islamic Cultural Center in The Bronx.
Photos of his “aunt,” Masuma Mamdani, were shared online by internet sleuths trying to debunk his story.
The remarks drew sharp backlash, even from Vice President JD Vance.
“According to Zohran the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks,” he railed in a post to X.
Online investigators claimed that Masuma Mamdani, a public health consultant, was the candidate’s sole aunt, posting photos of her without a hijab and highlighting that she was in Tanzania on 9/11.
On Monday, faced with questions about the posts, Mamdani scrambled to do damage control, stressing that he hadn’t been speaking about a biological aunt.
Mamdani was forced to set the record straight: his 9/11 story was about his father’s cousin, not his "aunt."
“For the takeaway from my more than 10-minute address about Islamophobia in this race and in this city, to be the question of my aunt, tells you everything you need to know about Cuomo and his inability to reckon with a crisis of his own making,” he said.
Attempts to reach Masuma Mamdani for comment were unsuccessful.
As the Nov. 4 election draws near, independent candidate Cuomo has been attacking his primary rival Mamdani, while New Yorkers flood the polls during early voting.
While he avoided mentioning Mamdani’s “aunt” comment on the campaign trail, the ex-governor on Monday slammed the Queens assemblyman for bringing controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker to his “New York is Not For Sale” rally in Forest Hills.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted Mamdani over his ties to the controversial streamer Hasan Piker. Getty Images
“I think that is insulting to all New Yorkers,” Cuomo told reporters. “Hasan Piker is the person who said, ‘America deserved 9/11.’”
At Sunday’s Queens rally, Piker was spotted by The Post, taking live video and chatting with attendees at an event that drew left-leaning power players Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
He was given a “new media” press pass to gain access to the event.
Ahead of the Democratic primary in April, Mamdani came under fire for sitting down with the left-wing influencer, as critics condemned Piker’s past vile comments—including his statement that “America deserved 9/11.”
Under pressure over Piker’s remarks, he condemned them for the first time on the debate stage just two weeks ago.
"I find the comments that Hasan made on 9/11 to be objectionable and reprehensible," Mamdani declared during the opening mayoral debate.
