Why people were so angry about Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji’s marriage

Zohran Mamdani has been dominating the headlines this morning after he was chosen as New York City's new mayor - and it looks like people are equally as interested in his wife, Rama Duwaji.

In particular, it's been revealed that some people were actually 'mad' about the couple's marriage, as per The Cut.

But first, for those not up to speed, more than two million New Yorkers took to the polling stations to caste their votes and today (5 November) it was announced that the 34-year-old Democratic socialist won by a landslide.

Mamdani's historic victory saw him defeat former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, impressively bagging more than 50 percent of the vote, as reported by The Guardian.

The new mayor was born in Uganda, where he spent his early years but was raised in New York City and officially became a US citizen in 2018.

Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Duwaji's marriage seemed to ruffle a few feathers earlier this year (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Mamdani made history with his win, which made him NYC's first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage, as well as the first born in Africa.

He will also become the youngest Big Apple's mayor in more than a century when he takes office on 1 January.

And Mamdani's not the only one - his wife Duwaji has also been drawing attention as she will be the first member of Gen Z to step into the role of first lady.

The 28-year-old Syrian-American illustrator and animator was born in 1997, meaning she falls into the category.

They tied the knot in a City Hall ceremony earlier this year after meeting several years ago on none other than the dating app Hinge.

However, as more and more people are taking interest in the political couple, it's been revealed that Mamdani actually faced some backlash for seemingly keeping his relationship private throughout most of his campaign.

He was forced to address it back in May after some social media users accused him of 'hiding his wife'.

Right-wingers also attacked Rama for using her art to support the pro-Palestine movement and took aim at the couple for having an 'extravagant' wedding ceremony in Dubai.

Meet the new Gen Z First Lady of New York City (Instagram/@ramaduwaji)

However, The New York Post reported that actually, ceremonies at the venue they chose typically cost around $72 per person with a minimum food-and-beverage spend of about $2,7000 - so, not quite as extravagant as it had been made out.

The Mamdani campaign said in a statement to the publication: "Before their civil ceremony in New York City, Zohran and his wife celebrated their engagement in Dubai last year - where her family lives - with a small, joyful ceremony surrounded by their loved ones."

At his victory party today, Mamdani declared to the crowd: "The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this."

He added: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."

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