Zohran Mamdani didn’t tell the whole truth about his hijab-wearing ‘aunt’ who feared for safety post-9/11

The “aunt” who Zohran Mamdani said was too afraid to wear her hijab on the subways after 9/11 is actually his dad’s cousin.

The socialist mayoral front-runner made the revelation during a press conference Monday after critics seized on his story, sharing photos on social media of a woman they identified as his aunt, who was pictured without a hijab. 

“I was speaking about Zehra fuhi, my father’s cousin, who passed away a few years ago,” Mamdani told reporters about the relative, whom he said he affectionately called his aunt.

Fuhi means paternal aunt in Urdu and Hindi. 

Mamdani’s campaign did not provide the cousin’s full name, when asked.

Questions began to mount on social media after a tearful Mamdani on Friday recalled how his “aunt” made the painful decision to stop taking the subway in New York City after facing Islamophobia in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“In an era of ever-diminishing bipartisanship, it seems that Islamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement,” Mamdani said as he called out election opponents Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, as well as Mayor Eric Adams, about what he said were anti-Muslim attacks on his campaign.

“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” he said during the emotional speech outside the Islamic Cultural Center in The Bronx.

The comments themselves also drew backlash, including from Vice President JD Vance.

“According to Zohran the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks,” he railed in a post to X.

Internet sleuths later claimed that a public health consultant, Masuma Mamdani, was the Democratic nominee’s only aunt, posting photos of her in which she appeared without a hijab and noting that she lived in Tanzania on 9/11.

Asked about the posts on Monday, Mamdani was prompted to do some damage control and clarify he wasn’t referring to a biological aunt.

“For the takeaway from my more than 10-minute address about Islamophobia in this race and in this city, to be the question of my aunt, tells you everything you need to know about Cuomo and his inability to reckon with a crisis of his own making,” he said. 

Masuma Mamdani could not be reached for comment. 

Cuomo, running as an independent, has been on the offensive against his primary foe Mamdani as the Nov. 4 election quickly approaches — with New Yorkers stepping out en masse during the ongoing early voting period.

The ex-gov didn’t directly mention Mamdani’s aunt comment on the campaign trail — but on Monday called out the Queens assemblyman for hosting controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker to his “New York is Not For Sale” rally in Forest Hills.

“I think that is insulting to all New Yorkers,” Cuomo told reporters. “Hasan Piker is the person who said, ‘America deserved 9/11.’”

Piker was spotted by The Post at the Queens rally on Sunday, taking live video and interviewing attendees at the event that featured lefty power players Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

He was granted a “new media” press pass to attend the event.

Mamdani has faced backlash for sitting down for an interview with the popular left-wing influencer in April, ahead of the Democratic primary, with critics calling out Piker’s vile prior comments, including that “America deserved 9/11.”

He was pressed on Piker’s comments and denounced them for the first time on the debate stage two weeks ago.

“I find the comments that Hasan made on 9/11 to be objectionable and reprehensible,” Mamdani said during the first mayoral debate.