The Politics of What You Wear and What You Eat: How Media Scrutinized Zohran Mamdani’s Every Choice

When Zohran Mamdani and his wife stepped out for dinner at Omen Azen, a Japanese restaurant in SoHo, they likely didn’t expect the meal would become a flashpoint in New York City’s mayoral race. But within hours of actor Michael Rapaport posting a photo of the couple dining there, the assemblyman found himself defending not just his policy positions but his right to eat sushi.

“How’s a so-called ‘working class’ mayoral candidate like Zohran Mamdani eating at OMEN SUSHI tonight — one of the priciest joints in NYC,” Rapaport wrote on X in late October. “This clown lives in a rent-stabilized apartment in Queens but dines like a diplomat on a Qatar-funded per diem.”

The attack quickly went viral, amplified by conservative media and Cuomo supporters. But it also sparked a fierce backlash, with many New Yorkers pointing out the obvious: spending around $150–$200 for a dinner for two isn’t uncommon for a special occasion in the city Northwest Asian Weekly. “Working-class people save up for nice dinners all the time,” one commenter added Northwest Asian Weekly.

The sushi controversy was just one example of how Mamdani’s food and clothing choices have been subjected to intense media scrutiny throughout his campaign—analyzed, dissected and interpreted as signals of his political authenticity, class consciousness and ideological commitments.

The Food Politics Begin

The attention to Mamdani’s dining habits started long before the sushi incident. Throughout his campaign, reporters have repeatedly asked the 34-year-old democratic socialist about his favorite restaurants, what he eats and where he shops for groceries—questions that rarely get asked of establishment candidates with the same intensity.

In an interview with The New Yorker, Mamdani listed Kabab King as one of his favorite restaurants in the city Tufts JumbosESPN. Kabab King is a small spot located at the intersection of Broadway, 73rd Street, and 37th Road in Queens’ Jackson Heights neighborhood that serves a mixture of Indian and Pakistani dishes ESPN.

A little closer to home in Astoria, Mamdani says he loves Zyara, a New York halal restaurant on Steinway Street that specializes in shawarma and kababs Tufts Jumbos. There, Mamdani’s order is the lamb adana laffa, which is a minced meat grilled kabab flavored with spices and wrapped in laffa flatbread Tufts Jumbos.

His third pick is Pye Boat Noodle, a Thai restaurant in Astoria where Mamdani recommends the koy nua, a spicy raw beef Thai salad that is like a raw version of larb ESPN.

The choices were immediately analyzed for their political significance. Mamdani’s favorite restaurants show that, for all its reputation as an expensive place to live, New York is still a heavily immigrant city with a lot of affordable local spots and a truly amazing amount of diversity PinkNews.

But when Mamdani dined at a more upscale restaurant, the narrative shifted. Omen Azen is frequented by the affluent and celebrities, featuring a menu with items such as a $145 seasonal tasting dinner, a $93 kobe beef hot pot, and a $92 wagyu steak Swish Appeal.

The Wall Street Journal observed: “Zohran Mamdani’s suits aren’t the blousy, boxy styles favored by most politicians. Instead, they’re cut slimmer, befitting both his youth and antiestablishment message”

Many said the tone of Rapaport’s tweet carried Islamophobic undertones, particularly targeting Mamdani, who is of Ugandan-Indian descent and Muslim Northwest Asian Weekly. Several pointed out that Rapaport himself has shared photos dining at Nobu Malibu, a restaurant far more expensive than Omen Azen Northwest Asian Weekly.

The Halal Food Controversy

The scrutiny reached absurd heights when Mamdani appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in late October. Asked about his efforts to win over skeptical voters, Mamdani told Stewart he had lived through “tens of millions of dollars of commercials telling them to fear me” AOL.

Mamdani responded to concerns about his plans: “This is literally in a push poll to New Yorkers saying that I’m going to make halal mandatory, and it’s like, if you do want to eat halal, like go to 34th Avenue and Steinway, go to Mahmouds, but I’m not gonna force you to go there.” AOL

The false claim that Mamdani would mandate halal food captured the racialized nature of the attacks. For a candidate whose campaign slogan “Roti and Roses” is a reference to the delicious Indian flatbread ESPN, food has been both a source of connection with diverse voters and a weapon wielded by critics.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Mahmood Khan, the Gyro King of Brooklyn, started giving out hot halal meals. One of the people who showed up to help was Mamdani. After Mamdani won the Democratic primary, Khan celebrated by giving away 500 free meals at Prospect Park. “It’s not for Zohran,” said Khan. “It’s for the people.”

Fashion as Political Statement

If Mamdani’s food choices have been scrutinized, his wardrobe has been subjected to even more intense analysis—with fashion reporters, political columnists and social media commentators all weighing in on what his suits and ties say about his ideology.

The Washington Post noted in early November: “These aren’t your dad’s suits and ties. They’re your groomsmen’s.” Yahoo!

The Wall Street Journal observed: “Zohran Mamdani’s suits aren’t the blousy, boxy styles favored by most politicians. Instead, they’re cut slimmer, befitting both his youth and antiestablishment message.” The outlet dubbed it “skinny-tie socialism,” describing “the vibe accords with the image Mamdani established on social media during his campaign: that of the friendly neighborhood radical, your cool former co-worker who hits the bar after raising taxes on billionaires” Foxbangor.

Mamdani is almost always clad in slim-cut suits, crisp white shirts and skinny ties that sport minimal prints HuffPost. In past interviews, Mamdani has referred to himself as the “Uniqlo uncle” who favors reliable and repeatable basics—from utility jackets to henleys, chinos and bombers HuffPost.

The accessibility of his wardrobe became part of the story. When criticized for wearing a suit into water, Mamdani responded on X: “Kenneth, you too can buy a suit and tie from Steinway Thrift Shop for $30. Paré sorted me out, I’m sure he could the same for you.” Yahoo!

In June, Mamdani walked 13 miles across Manhattan wearing a pair of silver New Balance 740s that Gen-Z would approve of. During televised interviews and public outings, the politician is seen sporting the vintage-looking Casio A1000MA-7VT on his wrist HuffPost.

The Multicultural Wardrobe

As the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Indian-born Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, his style is an eclectic blend of classic tailoring, traditional Indian and Ugandan menswear, and New York City streetwear PRIMETIMER.

One of the many posts that went viral on Mamdani’s social media was his wedding picture with his wife, Rama Duwaji, aboard the Union Square subway train. The candid shot shows the politician dressed effortlessly in a suit paired with a trench coat and scarf, adding personality and polish to what might seem a plain outfit HuffPost.

Mamdani’s wardrobe establishes trust by wearing the same brands that voters do, reinstating the belief that leadership doesn’t have to be distant to be effective HuffPost.

The Broader Pattern of Scrutiny

The intense focus on Mamdani’s personal choices fits into a broader pattern of media coverage that his supporters say has been hostile and at times absurd.

A satirical website called Mamdani Times appeared online in July, satirizing The New York Times’ recent coverage with the tagline, “The Times’ Coverage of Zohran Mamdani Is Getting Desperate” NewsX.

The site emerged days after the Times reported on Mamdani’s college application to Columbia University, on which he listed both “Asian” and “Black or African American” as his race NewsX. For its report, the newspaper used information that it received from a source named Jordan Lasker, a “eugenicist,” as Guardian columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote, who has defended “race science” and claimed Black people are mentally inferior to white people NewsX.

Guardian columnist Margaret Sullivan asked whether New York City’s venerated legacy newspaper is “trying to wreck Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid” NewsX.

The Times wasn’t alone. As the New York mayor’s race approached, The Times of London accelerated its push for more, and largely hostile, coverage of Mamdani Chicken Road. The paper even published a false story claiming former Mayor Bill de Blasio had criticized Mamdani’s budget proposals, when the email actually came from an impersonator.

The Double Standard

Critics of the media coverage point to a clear double standard. Cuomo has gone more old-school when expounding on his favorite foods, including his love of spaghetti and meatballs with sausage, and the NYC favorite bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, which he told The New York Times he prefers on an English muffin rather than a bagel Tufts JumbosESPN.

Cuomo’s food choices—Italian-American comfort food and classic New York deli fare—were presented as authentic and relatable. Mamdani’s choices from immigrant-owned restaurants in Queens were either celebrated as proof of his diversity credentials or attacked as evidence he was out of touch with “real” New Yorkers, depending on the outlet and the price point.

Similarly, while Mamdani’s slim-fit suits were analyzed as political statements, his opponents’ wardrobes largely escaped scrutiny. The implicit message: a young, brown, Muslim socialist’s every choice is freighted with political meaning in a way that establishment candidates’ choices are not.

What It All Means

In an age where political figures either blend into the background in uninspired suits or perform their ‘relatability’ with excessive flair, Mamdani finds a balance. His wardrobe is humble, affordable, and relatable—but never sloppy HuffPost.

The obsessive focus on what Mamdani eats and wears reveals less about the candidate than about the anxieties his candidacy provokes. For some media outlets and political observers, every meal at a restaurant, every suit choice, every accessory becomes a test of his authenticity as a working-class champion.

Mamdani’s background, being an Indian-origin Gujarati Muslim immigrant who was born in Uganda, would put him at a disadvantage in politics in America, but Mamdani wears his identity like a badge of honor HuffPost.

As New Yorkers head to the polls Tuesday, they’ll be voting on Mamdani’s policies—his plans for rent freezes, free public transit, city-owned grocery stores and universal childcare. But the campaign has also been a referendum on who gets to run for office without having their lunch orders dissected for hidden meanings, and whose wardrobe choices are just clothes rather than political manifestos.

Mamdani seems unbothered by it all. When asked about the criticism, he typically redirects to policy. But he’s also shown he can play the game when needed—responding to critics with humor, owning his thrift store suits, and reminding skeptics that working-class people are allowed to have nice things sometimes.

As for the sushi dinner that sparked so much controversy? Mamdani never apologized for it. Why should he? In a city where a mayoral candidate can be attacked for eating too cheaply (immigrant food from Queens) or too expensively (sushi in SoHo), perhaps the real message is that no choice would satisfy critics determined to find him inauthentic.

The question for voters isn’t what Mamdani eats or wears. It’s whether they believe his policies will make their own lives more affordable—regardless of whether they prefer halal chicken over rice or an occasional splurge on omakase.

This story, conceptualized and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk, was aggregated by AI from several news reports.