NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Robert Kraft jokingly explained at a gathering of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate on Thursday how the New York Jets are not one of his favorites because he owns the rival New England Patriots. But he still wants the best for New York City, and the selection of Zohran Mamdani is not something Kraft is happy about.
“It’s sad to me that a man can be elected in the city of New York, the No. 1 city in America, with a lot of beliefs, and when I heard him come out and speak after he won, I thought he was going to be more of a unifier. I think he spoke out in a way that showed division,” Kraft said in an exclusive interview with FOX News and Outkick.
“And it really hurt me.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
(Left) New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft on the field before a game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, on October 5, 2025. (Right) New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during an election night event at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York, on November 4, 2025. (Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images; Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Power problem with Mamdani speech
Mamdani’s victory speech was something from the teleprompter of a Marxist dictator trumpeting a new day in which one class of people defeated another.
And witness the first line of Mamdani’s speech: “The sun may have set on our city tonight, but as Eugene Debs once said, ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for mankind.’
Eugene Debs was an avowed Marxist who was the founding member and five-time presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America from 1900 to 1920.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants — a city built by immigrants, run by immigrants and, starting tonight, led by an immigrant,” Mamdani roared during his speech.
Not said here? New York was built by immigrants such as Italians, Irish and more recently Hispanics, many of whom assimilated into the fabric of the city and eventually became woven into the culture. It wasn’t a bunch of outsiders who took over and established their socialist empire.
ISRAEL GYMNASTICS TEAM SAYS ITS SECURITY APPROVED ATHLETES TO ENTER INDONESIA DESPITE BEING BANNED DUE TO ‘SECURITY’
New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference in the borough of Queens, New York, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)
Mamdani rhetoric is not in US interest
Mamdani framed his victory as a generational change, with a younger group taking power from another older group that is now less important. And reading between the lines, he declared a cultural and financial war against those who do not share his vision.
“We won,” he said, “because we insisted that politics would no longer be something that is done to us. Now it is something that we do.”
Much of this concerns Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots.
“I mean, he’s tapped into something and touched something, like people under 30 or 35 who haven’t really experienced the world, but feel that America is not living up to certain values,” Kraft said. “We have to be aware of that.
“But not to the division and the hate and really things that are not in the best interest of the United States.
“And it’s kind of sad for me to see that happen in the year 2025,” Kraft continued. “We need to find a way to get a better understanding and educate the people who think they are solving a problem but are creating a bigger problem.”
Kraft was obviously referring to Mamdani’s constituents.
WHITE HOUSE REMOVES TRUMP-THEME KNICKS LOGO POST TARGETING MAMDANI FOLLOWING TEAM’S COMPLAINT: REPORT
Robert Kraft introduces Mike Vrabel as head coach of the New England Patriots during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Billie Weiss/Getty Images)
Mamdani: No support for Jewish state
Mamdani has refused to explicitly affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. During several debates he was asked, “Do you believe in a Jewish state of Israel?”
His response: “I believe that Israel has a right to exist as a state with equal rights.”
This is the kind of anti-Semitism that Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate wants to expose.
On the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Mamdani wrote a sentence on social media condemning the Hamas attack. And three paragraphs accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry and several conservative politicians and media outlets condemned Mamdani’s anniversary statement. The Israelis said the statement normalizes anti-Semitism.
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates as he takes the stage at his election night party at the Brooklyn Paramount on November 4, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Mamdani defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the closely watched election for New York City mayor. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty)
October 7 derailed the Abraham agreement
Kraft, like many Americans, is an unabashed supporter of Israel. And he believes that Hamas’ attack on October 7 was a mission to create discord in the Middle East, which would prevent Israel from normalizing peace with its Arab neighbors.
“The State of Israel represents the values of America and the Western world and actually does the hard things to try to protect America … We have aligned interests there,” Kraft said.
“We know that all the moderate Arab regimes want to be part of the Abraham Accords. That’s why October 7th happened. They wanted to derail the effort. Saudi Arabia was closing a deal with [Israel].
“I don’t understand why people have so much hatred and malice in them when we talk about different ways of respecting the Lord and honoring God and having prayer. Everyone should be free to do it as they want.”
