Mamdani says Colbert show shocked him when producer pitched game to discuss Israel-Hamas war

Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani said Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” pitched a “game” to play that he found inappropriate. In an interview with The New Yorker, Mamdani recalled an exchange with Colbert’s producers ahead of his late-night appearance in June, just one day before the self-described democratic socialist clinched the Democratic nomination. At the time, Jewish groups urged Colbert to grill Mamdani on his views about Israel.“Right before the candidates went onstage, the producers appeared in the greenroom and said that they wanted to go over a few more questions,” The New Yorker described the situation Thursday.“According to people who were in the room, one of the producers suggested a ‘thumbs-up or thumbs-down’ segment: ‘Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: Hamas.

Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: a Palestinian state.’”“Mamdani’s face dropped.‘I just couldn’t believe what was happening,” Mamdani told the magazine.

’That a genocide could be distilled into a late-night game.'”Mamdani’s aides were “incensed,” one of them telling the producer, “You have the first Muslim candidate for mayor in the history of New York.… You don’t want to ask him a question about that?”A spokesperson for “The Late Show” did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Colbert did press Mamdani for several minutes on the Israel-Hamas war and the growing concerns about antisemitism. “Does the State of Israel have the right to exist?” Colbert asked.“Yes,” Mamdani responded.

“Like all nations, I believe it has the right to exist and a responsibility also to uphold international law.”The liberal late-night host, who repeatedly stressed he wasn’t offering any endorsement in the mayoral race, acknowledged the “elephant in the room,” noting the “fear” within the Jewish community about the rise in antisemitism and what would happen if New York City elected Mamdani...