Axelrod calls ADL's response to Mamdani's election 'shockingly gratuitous'

Former White House senior adviser David Axelrod on Friday said the Anti-Defamation League’s response to Zohran Mamdani’s (D) mayoral win was “shockingly gratuitous.”

“As a Jew & son of a Jewish refugee, I'm alarmed by the rise of antisemitism. The ADL's mission is to call it out when they see it,” Axelrod wrote in a statement on X.

“But I found their response to Mamdani's election shockingly gratuitous, inflammatory and deeply irresponsible,” he added. 

Following Mamdani’s Tuesday win, the ADL launched the “Mamdani Monitor,” a public facing tracker to monitor policies, appointments and actions from his administration that they consider potentially harmful to the safety of the Jewish community.

“Mayor-Elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director said in a statement.

“We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration at a time when we are tracking a brazen surge of harassment, vandalism and violence targeting Jewish residents and institutions in recent years,” he added. 

Mamdani, in his election speech, pledged to protect and uplift Jewish residents in the Big Apple. However, despite his attempts to make headway with communities, the New York City mayor-elect remains the subject of Islamophobic remarks and criticism. 

J Street, a left-leaning Jewish non-profit, called the ADL's rebuke to Mamdani, "alarming."

"The fearmongering we have seen from some Jewish institutions and leaders surrounding Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is harmful, overblown, and risks needlessly deepening divisions in the city and in our community," J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami, said in a statement, according to Haaretz.

"Our community's responsibility now is to engage constructively with the mayor-elect, not to sow panic or demonize him," the group added.