'How do you eat pizza?' Internet grills Republican for mocking Zohran Mamdani eating with bare hands

Hindustan Times

21 hours ago

US Congressman Brandon Gill was brutally criticised by the social media users for his "racist" commentary on New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The internet dug up photos of Brandon Gill's in-laws after he criticised Zohran Mamdani (L) for eating with bare hands.(X)
Gill had raked up a storm on the internet after he reposted a video of Mamdani eating rice with his bare hands and asked him to "go back to the Third World".
The internet was quick to lash out at the congressman, from grilling him to digging up the family photos of his Indian-origin wife.
Social media users also had questions for the congressman, as to how did he eat food items like pizza, fries and tacos if he disliked eating with his hands so much.
"How do you eat hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, tacos, burritos, fried chicken, french fries, onion rings, and chicken wings ya racist ***? Ugly," a user wrote.
A British-American journalist posted a family photo of Brandon Gill with his Indian-origin wife Danielle D'Souza Gill and her father Dinesh D'Souza.
"Brandon Gill's father-in-law Dinesh D'Souza was born and raised in India and has definitely eaten with his hands. Is he going to ask his father-in-law to leave the US too?" he asked.
Another picture is going viral on the internet, that shows Brandon Gill's in-laws sitting in a restaurant and posing for a photo. It shows food kept in front of them and pieces of what looks like a 'naan' in their hands.
"If you're gonna be a giant racist douche against Indians, don't go marrying an Indian," a post that shared the picture said, slamming Brandon Gill. Gill's post, Indian-origin wife's defence
Brandon Gill had made comments, which many termed "racist", against Zohran Mamdani, sharing a clip of him eating with his bare hands.
"Civilized people in America don't eat like this. If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World," Gill wrote.
Even as social media users used Brandon Gill's Indian-origin family ties to attack him for dissing Mamdani, the congressman's wife Danielle came forward in his support.
'I did not grow up eating rice with my hands and have always used a fork," she said in a post. Her post came after many users online drew parallels between what Gill said and Danielle's Indian heritage. They said many South Asian countries to eat with hands and that Gill's wife probably does too.
"I was born in America. I'm a Christian MAGA patriot. My father's extended family lives in India and they are also Christian and they use forks too. Thank you for your attention to this matter," Danielle further wrote.
Zohran Mamdani, son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, is a 33-year-old self-declared socialist. He recently defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's mayoral primary.
If Zohran Mamdani wins, he would be New York's first Muslim mayor.