New York mayoral candidate accuses Cuomo donors of altering photo in act of ‘blatant Islamophobia’

Zohran Mamdani says Andrew Cuomo’s Super Pac altered his image in a mailer to voters, giving him a darker beard

Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist state assemblyman waging a progressive bid to become mayor of New York City, has accused donors to the frontrunner Andrew Cuomo of “blatant Islamophobia” after an mailer from their Super Pac altered Mamdani’s image giving him a darker, bushier beard.

Mamdani, 33, posted a close-up of his face as featured in the mailer from the Cuomo-backing group Fix the City alongside the original photograph from which it was drawn. In the transition, the image’s visual contrast appears to be manipulated, slightly lightening Mamdani’s skin but also giving him the appearance of a longer and significantly fuller beard.