Donald Trump threatens to arrest Zohran Mamdani and accuses him of being 'here illegally'

People have been left horrified after Donald Trump falsely accused New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani of being in America illegally.

The mayoral candidate, 33, moved to the United States from Uganda in 1998, with his family setting up shop in New York City when he was just seven years old. There, he now lives with his Syrian-American artist wife Rama Duwaji, whom he revealed back in May he'd wed earlier this year.

If he is elected in the coming weeks, he'll become the first Muslim individual in history to hold the position in the city.

While there is no evidence to suggest he is not a US citizen - with Mamdani having been naturalised in 2018, and since boasting a successful career in liberal politics - Trump shockingly threatened to 'deport' the Democrat this week on the basis he was born in Uganda.

Speaking to press on Tuesday (2 July), just weeks before the election, the right-wing president was asked about Mamdani, to which he answered: "A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. We’re going to look at everything."

It is also assumed that Trump's comments were made in response to Mamdani potentially attempting to block ICE immigration arrests in the city, which formed part of the president's wider plan to halt 'all illegal entry into the country' and deport millions of 'illegal aliens'.

Asked by a dumbfounded journalist about Mamdani's possible opposition to ICE intervention, Trump replied: "Well then we’ll have to arrest him."

Responding to the Republican's threats in the hours that followed, the New Yorker penned a damning statement on social media.

"The president of the United States just threatened to have me arrested," Mamdani wrote.

He added that Trump's remarks 'don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you.'

"We will not accept this intimidation," he continued.

Naturally, Trump's controversial comments have rubbed a number of people up the wrong way, with one responding to the threat: "But he’s an American citizen?!?!"

"All this would have never happened if y'all let Kamala in office," another claimed.

"This is literally just racist and injustice," a third hit out.

Another slammed: "Zohran is a US Citizen. Trump embarrass the office he holds everyday."

This is far from the first time that Trump has attempted to use an element of someone's identity as a means of discrediting them.

During his campaign against Democratic leader Kamala Harris last year, he publicly questioned the fact that she's a Black woman.

At the time, he told an audience of African-American journalists: "I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black."

Similarly, before his first attempt at the presidency back in 2016, he accused White House predecessor Barack Obama of having not been legitimately elected because he was born in Hawaii (which is, of course, an American state).