Mamdani eats rice. MAGA melts down

Mamdani eats rice. MAGA melts down
A viral clip of Mamdani eating biryani by hand set off a culture war on the American right

By Ashlie D. Stevens
Senior Food Editor
Published July 3, 2025 11:10AM (EDT)


(Salon) A bowl of biryani, a political interview and a right-wing firestorm: such was the trajectory of a resurfaced video of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who was recently targeted by Republican Congressman Brandon Gill — not for his policies, but for how he eats.

In the clip, first recorded in 2023 by Uncivilised Media, the 33-year-old Democrat eats biryani with his hands while fielding questions about his campaign. “The holy grail of taboos in American politics,” the interviewer says, “which include socialism, Islam and Palestine. You are really going for the trifecta. Tell me, why is Palestine a part of your politics?”

....(snip)....

The response from the right was swift and unsparing. Within hours, Mamdani — who was born in Uganda and raised in New York — became the target of a wave of racist and Islamophobic commentary, much of it positioning his eating habits as symbolic of something fundamentally un-American.

Far-right activist Laura Loomer was among the first to pile on. “Disgusting,” she wrote. “My dogs are cleaner and more civilized when they eat than little Muhammad.” Others were slightly more subtle in their contempt. Several users pointed out that Gill’s wife, Danielle D’Souza—an author and the daughter of conservative firebrand Dinesh D’Souza—is of Indian descent, where eating with one’s hands is not only accepted but often expected for certain traditional meals.

....(snip)....

But of course, this wasn’t just a debate about dining etiquette. It was a textbook case of cultural othering, one that casts non-Western practices as primitive and noncompliance with a certain white, Christian, nationalist ideal as grounds for exile. In this telling, Mamdani wasn’t simply eating rice — he was signaling foreignness, defiance and a refusal to assimilate. That his choice of meal, identity and political stance all intersected in a single clip only made it easier for far-right voices to mobilize around a familiar narrative: if you look or sound or eat differently, you don’t belong here. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/07/03/mamdani-eats-rice-maga-melts-down/