New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani delivered a politically charged sermon Sunday at Rev. Stephen A. Green's Greater Allen AME church. (The Greater Allen Cathedral of New York Facebook screenshot)
He went on to target the issue of affordability in New York City, an issue that has resonated with his supporters, and asked, "What good is New York City being the greatest city in the world if New Yorkers cannot afford to live here?"
Green, who called Mamdani his "brother and friend," repeatedly said, "Amen" after the sermon and thanked him for attending. Like Mamdani, who has espoused several controversial political views, Green is no stranger to pushing his radical views on social media. In 2021, he called for a "new U.S. Constitution" on social media, saying the country needs a document that "guarantees the right to vote, abolishes the electoral college, provides reparations for slavery, guarantees annual income, and so much more."
In a 2022 Facebook post, Green, who calls himself a "global thought leader at the intersection of faith and social justice" and an "activist," called on President Joe Biden to establish a commission on reparations because the "impact of slavery and its vestiges are felt in every aspect of life for Black people."
"I was proud to be arrested at the DC Airport with my comrades to protect voting rights, DC Statehood, and reparations," Green said in a 2021 Facebook post that included a video of him being arrested. "We must continue to escalate our actions across the nation in order to protect voting rights. This is our revolutionary summer. Hold on, we must keep our eyes on the prize."
"Trump’s executive order is still entrenched in White Supremacist nationalism," Green posted on Facebook in June 2018. "We can not ease up on our pressure to abolish ICE and open our borders."
As New York City reels from a deadly mass shooting that killed four, Zohran Mamdani is getting renewed attention for a pledge to eliminate a key police department responsible for riots, civil disorder and shootings. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon and AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
In recent weeks, Mamdani has faced an onslaught of attacks as old interviews and past social media posts were unearthed, including several from 2020 and 2021 calling for defunding police.
"We need a socialist city council to defund the police," Mamdani posted on X in July 2020.
"Queer liberation means defund the police," Mamdani posted on X in November 2020.
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"Nature is healing," Mandani posted on X in response to a user mocking and laughing at seeing a police officer "crying inside his car."
However, last week, in the wake of a Midtown Manhattan shooting that left a NYPD officer dead, Mamdani said his calls to defund the police were made out of "frustration" over George Floyd’s death and appeared to distance himself from his past rhetoric.
His comments left several in the community unconvinced that he had genuinely turned the page from antagonizing the police, believing the walkback was politically driven as the city reels from the worst mass shooting in half a century.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign and Green for comment.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-preaches-pulpit-radical-pastor-pushing-reparations-abolishing-police