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Zohran Mamdani is taking heat for using school kids in his online campaign ads even after noting how “fortunate” he was to enjoy a childhood free of social media.
The 33-year-old New York City mayoral candidate, who has built his brand on viral content, was criticized by Instagram followers after he featured interviews with two kids promoting his bid for City Hall.
The criticism also came as New York City launched a statewide classroom cellphone ban aimed at protecting student mental health, and ahead of the mayoral election. On Thursday, Mamdani appeared outside I.S. 5 in Queens, praising the new cellphone ban while welcoming families back for the first day of the school year.
On Instagram, he also shared a post and contrasted his own childhood with today’s digital reality, writing:
EX-MAYOR DE BLASIO TOUTS SOCIALIST MAMDANI AS NEW YORK CITY’S ANSWER TO TRUMP POLICIES
The 33-year-old mayoral candidate posted videos of kids endorsing him after praising his social media-free childhood. (Zohran Kwame Mamdani)
“I consider myself fortunate—when I was a student, it was before social media had cannibalized the way that kids interact with one another,” he wrote. The post was paired with a back-to-school message about “hope and new beginnings.”
But just days later, Mamdani’s campaign accounts featured the two young kids speaking directly to Mamdani and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
MAMDANI APPEALS TO NON-DEMOCRATS WITH GENERAL ELECTION PUSH, VOWS GOVERNMENT CAN MEET VOTERS’ ‘MATERIAL NEEDS’
Zohran Mamdani featured young children endorsing his bid just days after welcoming families back to school. (Zohran Kwame Mamdani)
In one clip, a girl confidently endorsed him; in another, a boy offered support while Warren sat nearby.
“How old is she? So articulate, but she’s so tiny,” one follower said about the little girl.
Critics wondered why Mamdani was using children in his social media ads even as he decried the effects of…
