New York City’s Democratic Party mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani just ignited a firestorm by campaigning with a figure linked to the deadly 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

On Friday, Mamdani joined forces with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a 75-year-old Islamist and leader of the Muslim Alliance in North America, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 attack that killed six and foreshadowed the 9/11 horrors, as Fox News reports.

That bombing was a grim milestone, a terrorist strike that rattled the nation long before Al Qaeda’s later devastation.

Campaign move draws criticism

Mamdani didn’t shy from the spotlight, posting about his meeting with Wahhaj on social media and painting him as a respected local icon.

“One of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the [Bedford-Stuyvesant] community for nearly half a century,” Mamdani declared. That’s a curious way to frame someone who’s defended the 1993 plotters while slamming the FBI and CIA as the “real terrorists.”

Wahhaj’s history includes encouraging attacks on the U.S. and shielding those behind the bombing from federal criticism. That’s hardly the resume of a unifying community figure.

Wahhaj’s dark associations resurface

Prosecutors explicitly labeled Wahhaj an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 attack, though he’s never been convicted and insists he’s no terrorist. Still, such a tag isn’t the kind of endorsement you’d want on a campaign trail.

Further complicating matters, Wahhaj’s son, Siraj ibn Wahhaj, was arrested in 2018 for allegedly training children for school shootings at a New Mexico compound where kids were found in dire conditions. It’s a troubling connection that casts a long shadow.

Mamdani, undeterred, posed for photos with Wahhaj alongside New York City Council member Yusef Salaam, a Manhattan Democrat tied to the “Central Park Five” case often used in political jabs at former President Donald Trump. The image isn’t exactly a voter-friendly snapshot.

Opponents seize on candidate's choice

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now an independent mayoral candidate, called out Mamdani for aligning with Wahhaj, citing the imam’s terrorism links and anti-LGBT rhetoric. Cuomo also flagged Mamdani’s recent photo with a Ugandan official tied to oppressive anti-LGBT policies.

Mamdani himself carries a reputation for radical positions, which already raises conservative hackles. Add in his father, scholar Mahmood Mamdani, who has justified suicide bombings as war tactics and praised Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, and the controversy deepens.

Campaigning in a city as diverse as New York means meeting all kinds, but buddying up with someone of Wahhaj’s background feels like a misstep. It’s a choice that’s hard to defend.

Community ties revive past pain

Some might argue Wahhaj is a fixture in his neighborhood, and Mamdani could claim he’s just connecting with local voices. That argument holds less water when you recall Wahhaj’s own defense of bombers over federal agents.

For New Yorkers who lived through the 1993 bombing’s aftermath, this partnership stings as a disregard for painful history. Mamdani’s progressive platform may appeal to some, but this move risks turning off many.

Ultimately, while outreach is part of politics, aligning with figures tied to terror and division sends a message that’s tough to reconcile. It’s a gamble that could cost more than it gains in a city still healing from past wounds.