Charles Kushner, the US Ambassador to France and father of Jared Kushner, announced that he is leaving New York and relocating to Florida due to the "antisemitism" of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji.
"I don't want to pay taxes and live in a city with a blatantly antisemitic mayor and his antisemitic wife. I also don't want to live in a city with the people who voted for him," Kushner said in a Thursday interview with the New York Post.
According to Kushner, his decision is driven less by Mamdani's socialist policies than by what he characterized as hostility toward Jews and Israel.
Among the examples he cited were Mamdani's refusal to participate in the Israel Day Parade, his call to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on war crimes charges, his support for Columbia University protesters whom Kushner said celebrated the Hamas attack, and statements by Mamdani's wife that he claimed praised the events of October 7.
Kushner added that he has no respect for people who, in his words, "celebrate murder, rape and brutality."
"I speak with many people who hold political views different from my own, and I respect their opinions. But I don't respect anyone who celebrates murder, rape and cruelty," he said.
Later in the interview, Kushner also criticized Mamdani's economic message. He referred to a video in which Mamdani criticized billionaire Ken Griffin while promoting a tax on owners of luxury properties who do not reside in the city on a permanent basis.
"Ken Griffin worked hard to earn all that money. He took a lot of risks to earn it. That's what America stands for," Kushner said.
Kushner to maintain ties with New York
Despite his planned move to Florida, Kushner said he does not intend to sever his ties with New York entirely. He will keep his apartment in the city and continue paying the new tax, but expressed concern that Mamdani's tenure could damage New York.
"If there's one person who can destroy New York or bring it down, it's this mayor," he said.
Kushner, a veteran real estate developer who built one of the best-known family real estate companies in the United States, was convicted in 2004 on tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contribution charges. He was later pardoned by US President Donald Trump. His eldest son, Jared Kushner, served as a senior White House adviser during Trump's first administration and is married to Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump.