New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest post took a toll on both the political and football spheres of social media.
The 34-year-old politician posted just a “114” on his official X account without any context. This created widespread speculation about what it might mean and what the context behind the post is. His post garnered 22.8 M views, 38.2 K retweets, and 3.6 K comments.
Though there are many assumptions by other users about Mamdani’s post, football fans clocked it instantly.
As per them, Mamdani , who is a die hard fan of Arsenal took a dig on Manchester City.
City, the long time rivals of Arsenal in the English football league was found guilty in almost all charges against them related to violation of financial regulations of the Premier League.
The club was found guilty of 114 charges out of 115 in the investigation. Football fans on X stated that the “114” in Mamdani’s post indicates this incident and called it a fanboy moment and nothing more, like how the right-wing supporters of the USA think.
They also came in support of the Mayor and found him cool for being someone who knows everything happening in soccer while being a full-time politician. On the other hand, anti-Arsenal users found it difficult to digest the fact that Mamdani is a fan of the Gunners.
The confused Americans who did not know the meaning behind Mamdani’s post put comments under his post that consisted of Islamophobia, racism, and terrorist remarks.
Football fans in general retreated from the comments by right-wing supporters who sent hate with jokes and replies.
Many of them said, “the smartest in America,” as a dig at the citizens who, without knowing the context, just sent hateful comments and spread racism. Some fans also came up with comments to jokingly misguide the confused people.
The MAGA (Make America Great Again) and right-wing supporters have been constantly trying to get to Mamdani.
Now, with the latest incident, Mamdani supporters are saying the others just want to spread resentment and link Mamdani to terrorism without knowing the actual background.
Zohran Mamdani has been the target of right-wing advocates from the moment he stepped in as a candidate for New York City’s mayoral position. There have been so many instances and past incidents where Trump supporters spread terrorist remarks and statements like “ New York has changed,” “ Mamdani’s win would lead terrorism into New York City ”, etc.
One such incident was when Muslim New Yorkers gathered at Washington Square Park during the Eid holidays for prayer, as every other year. But this year, the clips of the gathering were widely circulated as a strategic invasion planned by Mandani.
Not just one, but many political figures in favour of the Nationalist American idea have sent backlash to the Mayor, tying him to terrorist attacks and the invasion of New York City by “outsiders”. Congressman Randy Fine once stated, without any evidence, that Mamdani would introduce a “ Caliphate ” in New York if he were elected during the campaign period.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk once called Mamdani a “ Muslim Maoist” and invoked the 9/11 attacks, linking them to him.
“ 24 years ago, a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City.
It went so far that Republican Representative Andy Ogles once sent a letter to the Department of Justice, asking for Mamdani’s citizenship to be revoked and for him to be deported. On top of that, even Mamdani eating biryani with his hands was called “ uncultured ” and “ third world” by nationalist Americans.
The Mayor has repeatedly condemned antisemitism and pledged to be a Mayor for all New Yorkers. As a response to what he perceives as the right-wing attitude toward immigrants, Mamdani once said
“I’ve spoken to many Muslims across this city who have shared that their fear of being essentially branded a terrorist, just by living in public life, keeps them preferring life in the shadows”
Zohran Mamdani has always expressed his love for football and Arsenal. He even had an entire interview segment with British GQ featuring his love for the Gunners. He said in the interview that he had been a fan of Arsenal since he was 10 years old.
Additionally, he mentioned that the blue-collar origin of Arsenal was also a factor that attracted him to the club because he himself was born in Uganda to Muslim and Hindu parents and later migrated to the US.
Mamdani also went viral when he wore a traditional loose-fitting kurta based on Arsenal’s 2025-26 navy and red lightning bolt away shirt when he attended Eid al-Adha prayers in the Bronx.
Not just a soccer fan, Mamdani is also one of the shareholders in the Spanish football club, Real Oviedo. He was one of the 20,000 people who got involved in an international share-buying campaign when the club faced bankruptcy in 2012.
Nevertheless, Arsenal fans are delighted to have the New York City Mayor in their fan club and express the same level of interest in Manchester City’s charges. But it is an open question whether an elected person in charge of a position should be targeted just because of mere speculation and stereotypes. In fact, Mamdani has not yet responded to the comments or revealed what he intended by the “114” post.
