Mamdani's Mom, Epstein and AI

Lies, cries and the liberal divide.

via France24

Mayor Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, appeared in the latest tranche of Epstein files. Soon after, images surfaced showing Zohran Mamdani as a child with his mother, Epstein and others. Fox News and other right-wing outlets wasted no time running with the images even though, as it soon turned out, they were AI-generated. Fake.

That the far right would jump headlong at any opportunity to slander the progressive New York City mayor is no surprise. What I find more disconcerting is how eager some on the left seem to be to unmask the mayor as a depraved elite.

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John Stewart in the Epstein files?

The images were faked, but the email was not. Mira Nair, a film director, did appear in the Epstein files, but context matters.

John Stewart also appeared in the Epstein files, for example, as he divulged in a recent show. Sounds damning, until you read the email. Jeffrey Epstein emailed producer Barry Josephson in 2015 about a concept for a Woody Allen project. In Josephson’s response to Epstein, he mentions Stewart:

"think we do it as an extraordinary event. prerecorded testimonials, set in new york ..., Make a true biographical experience with his stand up being the capper. somebody like Jon Stewart could host/narrate the biographical part, or Woody voice over."

Mere mention of you lands you in the Epstein files, in other words. Context matters.

The email naming the mayor’s mother

To be fair, Nair’s reference in the files is not as innocuous. She is mentioned in a guest list for a film screening after-party. The film isn’t named, but the timing suggests it was for her film, Amelia. The email in question came from Peggy Siegal, an entertainment publicist who worked with Epstein. Here is the email:

“Just left Ghislaine’s townhouse after party for film. Bill Clinton and Jeff Bezos were there Jean Pigozzi, director Mira Nair etc. Film received tepid reaction although women like it much more Hillary Swank and Gere at stupid party in Bloomingdales cheap sportwear department very weird.”

To recap: A film director attended an after-party for her film following the screening. Hardly a smoking gun.

The left turns on Mayor Mamdani

That’s not to say there weren’t other enablers and abusers. I’m sure the files will eventually reveal other guilty parties, but an email that mentions someone attending a party for her film falls galactically short of proof of wrongdoing. That hasn’t stopped a segment of the left from turning on Mayor Mamdani.

Some leftists are condemning the mayor as a conspirator. Anecdotally, I got into an argument with a progressive acquaintance of mine who posted an Instagram story insinuating that Mamdani was aware of his mother’s misdeeds and concealed it. When I called him out, he responded with the following:

“He’s a politician and it’s clear his family has ties to power and those ties entangled with epstein to a verifiable extent. If someone’s ability to take power is at all rooted in something reprehensible their parent did would you not want to know? or would not feel they have a social responsibility to be transparent about it?" people claim to despise eric adams and andrew cuomo because of their verifiably reprehensible behavior. I refuse to behave as if the same standard cannot be applied.”

I use this example because it well encapsulates the arguments being made by a wing of the left that is excoriating Mamdani for his mother’s inclusion in the Epstein files. I’ll address these gripes, as I did directly, one by one.

Evidence of nothing

First of all, as I’ve already pointed out, there is zero evidence that his mother did anything wrong. She went to a party for a film of hers organized by someone known to throw parties. That’s all we know.

Second of all, even if she did do something wrong or was aware of crimes being committed, we don’t know if Mayor Mamdani would have known that. People like my acquaintance are making two assumptions to arrive at an insinuation.

IF we knew for a fact that his mother was complicit AND we knew for a fact that the mayor knew his mother was complicit AND we knew for a fact that he deliberately concealed that fact, THEN we would have to hold his feet to the fire. BUT we don’t know any of that. If new information comes to light, then we should adjust accordingly. Until then, however, we should refrain from petty innuendoes.

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When the far right warns lefties like me that Bill Clinton may well be implicated by the Epstein files, we laugh. If he’s guilty, lock his ass up. We’re not a part of a cult that protects its leader at the expense of dignity and reason. But staying ready and willing to hold “our side” accountable is not the same as prematurely arriving at a conclusion that is used to justify scabrous insinuations and unsubstantiated accusations.

If what we truly aspire to is to hold everyone to the same standards of justice, then not only should we hold everyone, even those we once admired, to account, but we should also grant everyone a reasonable presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.

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