Tuberville on Mamdani using Quran at his swearing-in: ‘Enemy is inside the gates’

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Wednesday slammed incoming New York mayor Zohran Mamdani for being sworn in with the Quran, the sacred scripture of Islam.

“The enemy is inside the gates,” Tuberville wrote in a post on X, where he also posted a screenshot of a New York Times piece on Mamdani’s historic decision.

Mamdani, who will be NYC’s first Muslim mayor, is expected to use at least three unique Qurans for his public and private swearing-in ceremonies, according to the New York Times. While many elected officials choose to use religious text to take the oath of office, they are not required by law to use any text or book.

The mayor-elect has received pushback from both Democrats and Republicans for promising citywide rent freezes, free child care and free public transportation. 

“It’s not going to work. It has never worked anywhere. It’s been tried. And there’s a reason why so many folks from around the globe have fled communism and socialism to come to the United States in search of opportunity and a better life, primarily economic opportunity through our capitalist markets,” Republican Rep. Mike Lawler (N.Y.) said during a Wednesday appearance on Fox Business. 

Dutch politician Geert Wilders also weighed in with a separate post that read, “Invalid oath. No Quran. USA is not Islamic. Yet. Wake up America.”

Despite religious criticism from the right, Mamdani has held firm to his administration’s objectives.

“Thank you to every New Yorker who believed in this fight for working people,” the mayor wrote in an X post hours before his swearing-in.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is set to swear in Mamdani after months of supporting him as the city’s next leader.

“Zohran and his supporters showed the world that when working people stand together, we can defeat the Democratic and Republican establishments, Trump and the Oligarchs,” Sanders wrote on X.

“Best of luck to the new mayor.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5668878-tuberville-criticizes-mamdani-oath/