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Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Sunday for smiling in a photo alongside a former Uganda official who once championed anti-LGBTQ policy.
Photos resurfaced this weekend of Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, smiling alongside Uganda's former parliamentary speaker and current first deputy prime minister, Rebecca Kadaga, who supported Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014. The New York Post was first to report the photos.
"How does a self-proclaimed progressive candidate for mayor of New York City — the birthplace of Stonewall, the city that led the fight for equality — find himself smiling beside one of the most notorious anti-LGBTQ figures on the planet? And how does he maintain dual citizenship in a country that criminalizes people simply for who they love?" Cuomo asked in a statement Sunday.
Mamdani's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment, but a spokesperson told The Post that Mamdani was "unaware" of Kadaga's support for the anti-LGBTQ legislation.
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"Delighted to meet with Zohran Mamdani, incoming Mayor of New York City. Good luck in the next phase of elections," Kadaga captioned the photo that circulated on social media this weekend.
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In a second post on July 31, Kadaga posed for another photo with Mamdani and the socialist candidate's father, Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia University professor.
"Here with Zohran Mamdani and Prof Mamdani as Zohran returns to New York after his traditional wedding in Kampala," Kadaga's post read.
Cuomo ridiculed Mamdani on Sunday for posing for the photo as New York City was grappling with a mass shooting in Midtown Manhattan.
"Mamdani now claims he didn’t know who she was — that is laughable. Kadaga’s crusade against Uganda’s LGBTQ community has been condemned globally for well over a decade. Any serious public official, particularly one from Uganda, would know exactly who she is," Cuomo said.
According to the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014, the legislation was created to prohibit "any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex."
Kadaga told Reuters in November 2012 that Ugandans wanted the law passed as a "Christmas gift."
"They have asked for it, and we'll give them that gift," Kadaga said.
President Barack Obama denounced the bill as "odious" at the time.
President Joe Biden called it a "tragic violation of universal human rights."
Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down the 2014 law for lack of quorum, but the Parliament of Uganda passed the new version of the legislation in 2023, which criminalizes same-sex relations and imposes the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."
"New Yorkers deserve a mayor who stands on principle, not one who hides behind excuses. Zohran Mamdani has shown one quality time and again: duplicity," Cuomo said on Sunday. "And as we’ve learned, if he’s smiling, he’s lying."
Mamdani associating with an anti-LGBTQ activist stands in stark contrast to his campaign platform. A pillar of his "Trump-proofing" plan for New York City is "protecting LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers."
He has vowed to strengthen and protect "gender-affirming care" and protect LGBTQ youth, their families and New York City healthcare providers from legal persecution for receiving such care.
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While criticizing Mamdani's photo with Kadaga on Sunday, Cuomo touted his own record supporting the LGBTQ community.
"As governor, I was proud to make New York the first big state in the nation to pass marriage equality. We enacted GENDA to protect transgender New Yorkers, legalized surrogacy so families could grow with dignity, and built on the legacy of Stonewall to make equality not just a slogan but the law of the land," Cuomo said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Kadaga for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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