CNN’s Abby Phillip wrongly claims New York City terror attack was ‘against’ Zohran Mamdani, apologizes

CNN’s Abby Phillip falsely stated on Tuesday that the alleged ISIS-inspired terror attack in New York City over the weekend was "against" Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

"Two Republicans say Muslims don’t belong here after an attempted terror attack against New York’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, says nothing, really, to condemn those comments," Phillip told CNN viewers, appearing to trip over her words as she went to a commercial break.

In reality, the attack is being investigated as an "act of ISIS-inspired terrorism" that was targeted at anti-Islam protesters outside Mamdani's Gracie Mansion mayoral residence. Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were charged with material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and use of a weapon of mass destruction.

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CNN host Abby Phillip speaks during her show on March 10, 2026. (CNN/Newsnight)

Both men are U.S. citizens. One suspect’s parents are naturalized U.S. citizens from Turkey, while the other suspect’s parents are naturalized U.S. citizens from Afghanistan. 

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

A guest later on Phillip's program pointed out that the attack was targeted against protesters, not the mayor himself.

"To frame it as an anti-Muslim attack would actually completely reverse what happened," guest Joe Borelli said. 

Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York City, has described the attempted attack as "terrorism" but did not reference radical Islam in his initial public remarks.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee declared in a post on X Monday that "Muslims don’t belong in American society," and later defended his remarks as Democrats condemned them. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., has posted similar rhetoric in the past. 

Speaker Johnson, responding to questions about Ogles on Monday, sounded the alarm about the threat of Sharia law in the U.S., warning that it is in direct conflict with the tenets the U.S. was founded on.

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Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck, Stephen Sorace, Elizabeth Elkind and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.