History was made in New York on Monday night.

For the first time a Muslim mayor observed Ramadan with men incarcerated at Rikers Island.

They knelt to pray.

And then the men spent an hour, talking and breaking their fast with Mayor Zoran Mahmdani.

This is me just being a Muslim New Yorker.

And I think there are some for whom that is a

political act, and there are a million or so of us here in the city for whom it is simply a day-to-day

existence. A day-to-day existence that is increasingly being attacked as congressional Republicans

engage in anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Last week, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville posted a photo on X of Mamdani breaking the fast next to an image of the 9-11 terror attacks, a post-Mamdani described as bigoted.

Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas wrote on social media,

No more Muslims immigrating to America. Florida's, Randy Fine, posted on X,

we need more Islamophobia, not less. Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia,

no more Islamic immigration, denaturalized deport, repeat.

And Andy Ogles, a Republican House member from Tennessee, posted,

Muslims don't belong in American society.

Pluralism is a lie.

But unlike in past political eras, these comments have faced little pushback from Republican

leaders. Here's what House Speaker

Mike Johnson had to say about this tweet from Ogles. There's a lot of energy in the country and a lot of

popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem. That's what

animates this. Consider this. New York Mayor Mamdani has brought his Muslim faith to the center of his political life, but his effort has faced a backlash.

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