New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Sunday announced he had traveled to Uganda to introduce his family and friends to his wife Rama Duwaji, who he married in February.
He joked in a video published to his social media accounts that many of his critics have called for him to “go back to Uganda,” where he was born to Indian parents and spent the early years of his life. On the campaign trail, he regularly invoked his roots in Africa. He moved to the United States when he was 7.
“Zohran is traveling to Uganda, where he is celebrating his marriage to Rama with their family and close friends,” Mamdani campaign spokesperson Jeffrey Lerner wrote in a statement. “He will return to New York before the end of the month and looks forward to resuming public events and continuing his campaign to make the most expensive city in America affordable.”
Mamdani did not announce the trip until he had already arrived in the country. Lerner said he departed on Saturday.
The trip offers the Queens Assemblymember some time away from the campaign ahead of November’s general election, where he’ll face off against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams, both of whom are running as independents.
The international visit comes as Mamdani has been working to consolidate support from the Democratic party’s base. Although most labor organizations have been quick to embrace him, he has faced greater scrutiny from top Democrats and business leaders over his identity as a democratic socialist and views on Israel.
On Friday, he met with House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries in East New York. While Jeffries did not endorse him, his spokesman called the meeting “constructive, candid and community-centered.” Sen. Chuck Schumer has also not yet backed Mamdani but has said he would meet with him.
Prior to his discussion with Jeffries, Mamdani told a group of CEOs and senior executives in a closed-door meeting that he would “discourage” others from using the slogan “globalize the intifada.” The term is viewed by some as a call to violence, but Mamdani has said it can also be heard as a desire for equal rights for Palestinians.
The trip to Uganda also comes after a New York Times story this month revealed that Mamdani had identified as Asian and African American on his 2009 application to Columbia University. Mamdani said he checked both boxes to reflect his complex background, but critics accused him of trying to gain an edge in the university’s affirmative action process. Columbia did not admit him.
“The African American identity is not a check-box of convenience,” Adams said in a statement. “It’s a history, a struggle and a lived experience. For someone to exploit that for personal gain is deeply offensive.”
After winning the general election in 2021, Adams took an overseas trip to Ghana as part of a “spiritual journey.” The weeklong trip was booked through Turkish Airlines and included a layover in Istanbul. It was among the trips cited in a 2024 federal corruption indictment against Adams.
The case was dismissed earlier this year at the request of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
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