Do not dress up fear and bigotry in a cloak of legitimacy.

Be for real, Kirsten. Do not dress up fear and bigotry in a cloak of legitimacy. You have a responsibility to all New Yorkers, not just your chosen few. I listened to your comments on the Brian Lehrer show regarding NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani, and I was deeply concerned. You not only failed to push back against a caller’s misinformation and clear bias, you also added to the confusion by casually (and misleadingly!) throwing the word “jihad” into the mix. You cannot have it both ways! You cannot claim that certain words are too loaded and then use loaded words as weapons. Mr. Lehrer even gave you several opportunities to course-correct, and you hemmed and hawed instead. Shame on you for stoking the rampant Islamophobia that is poisoning our discourse. I have written to you dozens of times to voice my concerns about your lack of empathy/action for the humans of Gaza. Your behavior over the past several years has shown a clear anti-Muslim bias, so I wonder if that is why you are so quick to see bias in others. Or perhaps the fear is because you know that you have played a role in the very genocide that Mr. Mamdani is unafraid to condemn? Mr. Mamdani has made his position against antisemitism perfectly clear. You are willfully obfuscating when you could instead follow the example of a principled leader like your colleague Rep. Nadler. Instead of helping to bring New Yorkers together, you are fanning the flames of division. Shame! P.S.: STOP CONFIRMING TRUMP’S NOMINEES!