Pro-Israel influencer Emily Austin says Zohran Mamdani reached out to co-host FIFA event
FIRST ON FOX: Sports reporter and conservative influencer Emily Austin told Fox News Digital exclusively that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked her to co-host a FIFA World Cup event.
Austin, who is vocal about her conservative politics and pro-Israel stance, said the mayor's office sent a message to the Instagram account for her podcast, "The Emily Austin Show," asking about possibly working together. She told Fox News Digital that after she got the message from Mamdani's office, she called two of her mentors to ask for advice.
"One of them thought it was a great idea, and one of them said, 'Do not, don't make him look like he's extending an olive branch to the Jewish people because he's not. Him asking you to co-host an event is not going to do anything good for you or him,'" Austin recalled, adding that it would "make me look bad."
Austin said she thought deeply about what to do and realized that she would have been open to co-hosting the event if she thought that there was "the slightest chance" that she could speak to Mamdani and change his mind about Israel.
"If there's the slightest chance that I know, I can have a conversation with Mamdani and change his mind on the State of Israel or on the — you know — well-being of the Jewish people, then I would have gone despite the scrutiny. But knowing that I don't feel any ounce of remorse for the things that he said that hurt my community, it's like I'm not interested. And sports could have been a very good vehicle to drive unity, but not from a guy like Mamdani," Austin said.
When asked about Austin's claim that Mamdani invited her to co-host a World Cup event, Deputy Press Secretary for Mayor Mamdani Sam Raskin told Fox News Digital, "Mayor Mamdani is the mayor of all New Yorkers, regardless of their views, and we will always engage with people across the political spectrum."
Austin expressed frustration with the divisions she sees in New York City. She noted that she works in Muslim-majority countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and feels that she sees "more coexistence there than I'm seeing right now in New York."
"I celebrate Eid with my Muslim friends. They come to my house for Passover, and it's like religion is usually not what's causing the tension, it's mostly the politics behind it and, you know, Jihad," she said. "So, Mamdani, it's not that he's Muslim, or it's not that, you know, he's pro-two-state solution. No, he's pro-terrorism."
Austin spoke with Fox News Digital at the Manhattan Jewish Experience's (MJE) 27th annual dinner, where she was being honored with the Social Impact Leadership Award. The reporter and influencer said that in a time when speaking out against antisemitism and in favor of Israel can draw scrutiny, it felt good to be recognized by the people she's fighting for.
"The pat on the back from the people that you love and care about and the people you're fighting for, it really does mean something," she said.
MAMDANI SKIPS ISRAEL DAY PARADE DESPITE JOINING OTHER CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS
MJE was founded by Rabbi Mark Wildes in 1998 in honor of his late mother, Ruth Wildes. The organization connects Jewish professionals in NYC to build a community based on shared faith and heritage.
Wildes told Fox News Digital that many Jewish New Yorkers have felt increasingly uneasy amid rising antisemitism following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and the beginning of Mamdani's term in office.
"We don't feel like we have a mayor that really represents us or that is careful about protecting Jews," Wildes said. "I was just really upset, frustrated that the city could elect someone that is just sort of tone-deaf to where Jews are in America and New York."
Austin said that she does not believe that Mamdani has made a genuine effort to improve his relationship with New York City's large Jewish community.
"You just don't feel like there's any olive branch being extended, you don't feel like there is a chance for coexistence when it comes to this mayor and, it's just a shame because New York is, I think, the greatest city in the entire world, and it's sad to see that this is what's dividing us," she said.