NEW YORK (AP) — Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has apologized for “harmful” social media posts she made as a teenager, responding publicly after a conservative news outlet combed through her online profile and republished some of the material, including posts in which she used an anti-gay slur.
In an interview with art website Hyperallergic, illustrator Duwaji said she was “extremely ashamed to be faced with using language that was so harmful to others,” adding, “Being 15 does not excuse this behavior.”
“I’ve read and seen a lot of other people’s responses, and I understand the hurt I’ve caused and I’m truly sorry,” she said in an interview published Wednesday in response to a question about adjusting to life as a public figure.
Duvaji did not specify which comments she was referring to, nor did she mention other recent social media activity about Israel that has drawn scrutiny as Mamdani sought to assuage concerns among some in the city’s Jewish community about his own criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Last month, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Duaji’s online activity on several social media platforms over the years, finding that she had shared posts praising female Palestinian militants involved in hijackings and bombings in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 2015, she shared a post in which someone wrote that Tel Aviv was occupying Palestinian land and “should not exist.”
Duaji also used a racial slur against black people while speaking affectionately to a friend in 2013, and used a brief slur against gay people in 2013.
The mayor has previously said his wife is a “private person” and has no official role at City Hall. When asked on Thursday what specific posts his wife regretted, Mamdani denied it.
“She shared some of her thoughts in this interview. I won’t add too much, but I will say that she is a person of great integrity,” Mamdani told reporters.
He added that questions about Duvaj’s social media activity were “an important part” of his own choice to run for mayor, “a decision that has had an impact on people I love.”
Separately, Duvaj was criticized for liking an Instagram post that appeared to cheer Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The Free Beacon also reported that Duvaji provided illustrations for an article by an author who described the Oct. 7 attack as “spectacular” and called Jewish Israelis “rootless and soulless ghouls.”
Mamdani has previously said his wife was commissioned by a third party to illustrate excerpts from a book and said she had never been in contact or met the author and that Duvaj had not seen the author’s previous comments. He called the author’s comments “clearly unacceptable” and “reprehensible.”
___
Associated Press writer Jack Offenharz contributed
