The New York Times rushed to put out its story on Zohran Mamdani claiming to be “African American” when he applied to Columbia University because the newspaper feared it would be scooped by right-leaning journalist Christopher Rufo, according to a report.
The Gray Lady is facing a storm of criticism following its decision to publish the story based on hacked Columbia documents that revealed Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, identified as both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his 2009 college application.
Mamdani, who is of Indian descent and was born in Uganda, confirmed the details to the Times and said he checked those boxes because the application did not reflect the complexity of his background.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, claimed to be African American on his 2009 college application. Paul Martinka for NY Post
Two people familiar