Nikki McCann Ramirez
View all posts by Nikki McCann Ramirez July 23, 2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on July 3, 2026 in New York City. Anna Connors/Getty Images Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville called for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be arrested and sent to the infamous America torture prison at Guantanamo Bay. Mamdani’s crime? Calling indicted alleged war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu an “architect of genocide,” responsible for a series of atrocities in the ongoing war on Gaza.
“Sooner or later,” Mamdani will “do something more stupid than what he’s done, where we will finally say enough is enough, go put the handcuffs on him […] and send him to Gitmo,” Tuberville, a Republican, said, calling Mamdani a “thug.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville Finally SNAPS On Mayor Mamdani, Demands He Is Dragged to GITMO in HANDCUFFS "He's not some type of warlord, Muslim dictator, okay?" "Sooner or later, he will do something more stupid than what he's done to where we'll finally say enough's enough, go… pic.twitter.com/9vQ3Mu5yBj
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 23, 2026
In a video published earlier this week, Mamdani announced that after a legal review, his administration had determined that the city did not have authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the Israeli prime minister’s arrest. Netanyahu is expected to attend the General Assembly meeting at the United Nations’ New York City headquarters in September. Throughout his campaign, Mamdani had indicated that he would seek to execute on the ICC’s arrest warrant should Netanhayu visit the city.
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” Mamdani said. “The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the [International Criminal Court] and execute this warrant.”
“I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he added.
The video immediately triggered outrage from conservatives and the pro-Israel wing of Congress. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) called Mamdani, who is Muslim, an “apologist for terrorists,” which “makes [him] a terrorist.”
Fine further called for Mamdani to be denaturalized and deported in retaliation for his comments. Over the course of Mamdani’s campaign and early administration, threats to denaturalize and deport the mayor — who was born in Uganda and naturalized as an American citizen in 2012 — have become a staple of the right’s attacks against him. In July of last year, Trump himself threatened to strip Mamdani of his citizenship after he said he would not cooperate with federal efforts to surge immigration arrests and deportations.
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Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told Piers Morgan that Jews who had voted for Mamdani were “self loathing,” and suggested that the mayor was complicit with the “murder” and “rape” of American women and girls by “illegal aliens.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), whose dispute with the Democratic Party over his carte blanche support for Israel has sent him into the all too eager arms of Fox News producers, told the network that Mamdani was angry at Netanyahu because the Israeli prime minister “killed a lot of people” he “admired,” suggesting the mayor supported terrorist networks.
