During a portion of an interview with PBS aired on Monday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Patrick Gaspard, an informal adviser to the campaign of New York City mayoral candidate Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, said that Mamdani’s (D) views on Israel and Gaza are “almost like the point of entry into the conversation.” And people are willing to listen to him talk about “things that matter, like public education, policing, quality of life” after hearing about how he stands on Israel.
“NewsHour” Correspondent William Brangham said, “Patrick Gaspard has advised several New York mayors and is an informal adviser to the Mamdani campaign. He says Mamdani’s position on Gaza is not the political drag some analysts believe, noting that polls show more than 70% of Democrats oppose providing additional economic and military support to Israel.”
He then played a clip of Gaspard saying, “Where you stand on this issue, on the issue of Gaza and the rights of the Palestinians is almost like the point of entry into the conversation. I’ll let you come onto my porch to talk about the things that matter, like public education, policing, quality of life. But I need to know where you stand on an issue that is troubling my soul every time I go on social media.”
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