Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s Hanukkah video featuring radical leftist actor Mandy Patinkin and his family sparked backlash online, with critics slamming the appearance as a “staged performance” and accusing the Democratic Socialist of cynically co-opting the holiday for political cover amid deep concerns over his antisemitic rhetoric and anti-Israel record.
In a post shared to social media, Mamdani wrote, “It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love.”
The video, which surpassed one million views on X as of Sunday, shows the mayor-elect participating in candle-lighting and festive traditions with Patinkin’s family in what appeared to be a staged home setting.
Patinkin, the entertainer best known as Inigo Montoya in the late Rob Reiner’s hit The Princess Bride, described the first Trump administration as a “cancer that affects the world globally.” In July, he blamed the Gaza war on Jews, amplifying Hamas’s narrative while ignoring the hostage crisis.
Critics denounced the video as disingenuous, pointing to the historical significance of Hanukkah — which commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem after Jewish fighters reclaimed it from foreign occupiers, a landmark assertion of Jewish independence in the land of Israel centuries before the rise of Islam or the Roman renaming of the region as “Palestine.”
Such a celebration, they argue, stands in stark contrast to the New York City mayor-elect’s rhetoric and record, widely viewed as antagonistic toward Jewish sovereignty.
“Chanukah marks the re-dedication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem after winning a war against Syrian Greek occupiers to restore Jewish sovereignty over Israel,” wrote commentator Joel M. Petlin. “That’s what Zohran Mamdani and the Patinkin family just celebrated together, though they probably don’t realize it.”
“Very disappointed in Mandy for supporting @ZohranKMamdani. The very essence of Chanukah is resistance against people who reject Jewish presence in the Land of Israel,” wrote author Avi Benlolo, Chairman and CEO of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative think tank. “Mandy should know better.”
