New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office is disputing former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s claim that he told the mayor, “over my dead body,” after accusing him of supporting a future without a Jewish homeland.
On a recent episode of the podcast “Unholy,” Emanuel, who also served as mayor of Chicago, told hosts Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland that he met with Mamdani for about 90 minutes and challenged the mayor over the slogan “from the river to the sea.”
“I said, ‘Look, you are your father’s son. I’m my father’s son,” Emmanuel said. “You chant ‘a river to the sea,’ and that means there will never be a Jewish homeland for Jews who had faced the Holocaust.’ And I said, ‘I want you to hear this: Over my dead body.’”
Anna Bahr, Mamdani’s communications director, rejected Emanuel’s claim, stating, “Can confirm this did not happen.”
It was not immediately clear whether Bahr was denying that Emanuel made the remark during the meeting or disputing Emanuel’s broader account of the exchange. (JNS sought additional clarification from Mamdani’s office.)
