Elon Musk accused of racism after butchering Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani’s last name
Elon Musk is facing backlash for misspelling Zohran Mamdani’s name on purpose in a post endorsing his rival in the New York City mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo.
Elon Musk is facing backlash for misspelling Zohran Mamdani’s name on purpose in a post endorsing his rival in the New York City mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo.
In the race for New York City mayor, 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani is running against 67-year-old Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who has experience on his side.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, built his campaign by focusing on issues such as housing affordability, free public transport and child care, helping him surge in polls. (Also read: Zohran Mamdani reacts as Trump picks Andrew Cuomo for NYC mayor)
His main rival in the election is former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the primary. Republican Curtis Sliwa is also in the race.
Elon Musk endorses Cuomo
Elon Musk took to X this morning to endorse Andrew Cuomo. The Tesla billionaire warned voters that voting for Curtis Sliwa in the November 4 election would be as good as giving their vote to Mamdani. Except he did not even bother to spell Mamdani’s name correctly.
“Bear in mind that a vote for Curtis is really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is,” wrote Musk. “Vote Cuomo!” he added.
Zohran Mamdani is the son of India-origin Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. He will become New York City’s first Muslim mayor if he wins. His name has long been the subject of scrutiny, with his rivals struggling to pronounce it correctly.
Cuomo repeatedly butchered the pronunciation of Mamdani on the campaign trail, Curtis Sliwa also struggled with it during the first debate, even Democratic ally Letitia James fumbled with the pronunciation.
But Elon Musk misspelling the name on purpose has sparked backlash.
Elon Musk under fire
The comments section of Musk’s post was filled with angry comments.
“You can sorely dislike one’s policies, but butchering a person’s name on purpose is a third rate, middle-schooler tactic. Oh wait…” wrote Crstl Tech CEO Dipti Desai.
“You can take the boy out of apartheid but can you really take the apartheid out of the boy?” asked journalist Mehdi Hasan.
“One of the easiest tells that someone is racist is when they purposely mispronounce coloured people's names that are actually very easy to read,” X user Jesse said.
“When Elon messes up your name you sure know you’re winning and he isn’t happy about it but can’t stop it,” another X user posted.
“Musk, why are you so obsessed with propping up rapists and washed-up predators?” X user Frank C asked. “Also — it’s Zohran Mamdani, but I get it… names that aren’t white or billionaire-adjacent must short-circuit your apartheid-brain wiring.”
One person called it “childish, racist behaviour” while another added: “So disrespectful and shameful. But not unexpected.”
