New York, New York - New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was asked by a reporter why he hadn't had a more visceral reaction to being called antisemitic on the campaign trail. Here's what he said.

"There's no room for antisemitism in this city and this country, and I've said that because that is something I personally believe," Mamdani responded.

Some of Mamdani's rivals, including disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, have sought to characterize the surging democratic socialist as antisemitic due to his support for Palestinian human rights.

The 33-year-old state assembly member has spoken out against Israel's settler-colonialism, apartheid, and wholesale slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. He said on the debate stage earlier this month: "I believe Israel has a right to exist, as a state with equal rights."

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Mamdani has received endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as he fights to deliver rent freezes, free buses, no-cost childcare, and more to the nation's largest city.

"Ultimately to your question of why not a more visceral reaction, part of it has been colored by the fact that when I speak, especially when I speak with emotion, I am then characterized by those same rivals as being a monster, as being at the gates – language that describes almost a barbarian looking to dismantle civilization," Mamdani said.

"Part of this is the very sad burden of what it means to be the first Muslim candidate to run for mayor, is to deal with dehumanizing language."

Dealing with the hateful language has not been easy.

"It pains me to be called an antisemite. It pains me to be painted as if I am somehow in opposition to the very Jewish New Yorkers that I know and love and that are such a key part of this city, and yet I know that when I share that emotion, I continue to face a language as if I am a beast," Mamdani said.

The mayoral hopeful said he has received death threats and racist, Islamophobic messages on the campaign trail.

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"I try not to talk about it because the function of racism, as Toni Morrison said, is distraction," Mamdani insisted. "My focus has always been on making this a city that is affordable, on making this a city that every New Yorker sees themself in, and it takes a toll because this is a city that every single person deserves to be in. It's a city that we all belong to."

Mamdani went on to say he is proud of the strong support his campaign has received from New Yorkers of all faiths and backgrounds.

"Antisemitism is such a real issue in this city, and it has been hard to see it weaponized by candidates who do not seem to have any sincere interest in tackling it but rather in using it as a pretext to make political points," Mamdani said.

The Democratic mayoral primary in New York City is less than a week away, on June 24. Early voting is already underway.