Sharpton blasts 'ugly Islamophobia' in NYC mayor race as Mamdani attacks Trump on welfare cuts

The pair were joined by Pastor Miles Travis Boyd, whose mother perished on 9/11, as well as other faith leaders.

"If you can't get a vote on your record, don't play us against each other," he added.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced criticism from Mamdani after Cuomo's exchange with radio host Sid Rosenberg, who claimed Mamdani would be "cheering" if another 9/11 happened. Cuomo had argued during the segment that Mamdani was unprepared to lead the city in a time of crisis.

After Sharpton's remarks on Saturday, Cuomo denied accusations of Islamophobia and said comments from Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov - who has endorsed him and has been accused of making inflammatory statements - were hers alone. Cuomo, in turn, accused Mamdani of fueling division and antisemitism for allegedly refusing to denounce calls for an "intifada" and for making past statements he described as offensive toward Jews.

Sharpton went on to say that he denounced both the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

He then pitched his flag in Mamdani's corner after telling the audience that Mamdani was the only candidate who turned up to their events.

"For fairness, for affordability, for those who've been victimized - I bring you the candidate who showed up, Zohran Mamdani," Sharpton said, shaking Mamdani's hand as the crowd cheered and clapped in approval.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, came under fire from Mamdani after Cuomo's exchange with radio host Sid Rosenberg, who claimed Mamdani would be "cheering" if another 9/11 happened. Cuomo had argued during the segment that Mamdani was unprepared to lead the city in a time of crisis.

Mamdani followed Sharpton's remarks with a speech invoking America's Reconstruction era, accusing Trump of gutting modern welfare programs, saying they represented today's version of the Freedmen's Bureau. The agency provided relief, education, and helped reunite families of enslaved people and poor whites in the post-Civil War South.

"If the Freedmen's Bureau existed today, Donald Trump would pilfer its coffers and smear it as socialist overreach," Mamdani said. "He would do to it what he has done to SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid, to any program that dares to uplift the poor rather than comfort the wealthy." 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Mamdani said his campaign was rooted in moral and economic renewal stretching from Harlem to Queens to Bay Ridge.

"Over the past 12 months, my friends, we have built a movement around creating a society we would all like to see a society where the poor receive aid, where those who work long nights are set free in the day where injustice is banished from our city and where faith is restored in City Hall," Mamdani said.