Given all the hate Zohran Mamdani is receiving, it seems as if New York City’s mayoral hopeful has barely had a moment to celebrate his sweeping victory at the Democratic primary. Having recently come under the Republican scanner, the Indian-American assemblyman faced vicious calls for deportation while also dealing with Islamophobic onslaught on social media.

With all that already on his plate, a campaign video of him resurfaced on the far-right side of the Internet, prompting even more hate and backlash. The video amplified by ‘End Wokeness,’ a staunch Donald Trump-supporting page, captures Mamdani eating rice with his hand — a common South Asian food practice. On top of that, Mamdani’s choice to eat with his hands extends far beyond to his Ugandan roots.

Contentious debate ignites online after video of Zohran Mamdani eating with hands goes viral

“Zohran says his worldview is inspired by the 3rd world while eating rice with his hands,” the page captioned the video. While many others joined in the derogatory name-calling and dragged the Indian-American representative, fellow South Asians came to his defence. Meanwhile, a third group of netizens argued that Mamdani eating with his hand was all performative and a reflection of his “constructed persona to make white liberals feel special and in the know.”

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Much like Republicans and US President Donald Trump himself, NYC’s billionaires or “big guys” have repeatedly emphasised that if elected, Zohran Mamdani would destroy America’s most populous city. Echoing much of those sentiments, a user commented, “How is this guy even an option is beyond me. NYC, vote wisely.”

Republican politician Brandon Gill also shared the post, saying, “Civilised people in America don’t eat like this. If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World.”

While more comments urging Mamdani to eat with a fork popped up, Avatans Kumar, reputed journalist and author of books like “Gods in Exile” and “Indian Renaissance: The Modi Decade,” also defended the act of eating with one’s hands. However, he didn’t mince words while calling Zohran Mamdani for “perpetuating a stereotype for political gains,” either.

“There is nothing wrong in eating with hand, rice of roti. It is clean hygienic and elegant if done right. We eat with our hand all the time,” Kumar wrote on X. “@ZohranKMamdani is a child of academy award-nominated successful filmmaker and @Columbia professor. He is not poor by any means. His acts are demeaning to people of the so-called 3rd world.”

Zohran Mamdani on eating with hands

Earlier this month, the NYC mayoral candidate opened up about eating with his hands in public in an interview with bon appetit. At the time, the Uganda-born assemblyman was puzzled to even be asked about eating food with hands as he wore a suit in public. “I have to eat with my hand,” he said. “In Uganda we even eat salad without hands.”

Further detailing his relationship with food, he emphasised it “tells the story of the people… the story of migration.” Given his ties to the Indian context and the religious faith he follows, Mamdani even revealed how he initially used to be “consumed by this sense of forever being a minority everywhere.”

He added, “If I’m in India, I’m Muslim. If I’m in New York City, I’m all of these things.” The NYC mayoral candidate said his father, Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani, ultimately told him that being a minority “means to see the truth of a place with all that comes with it.”