{"id":32311,"date":"2026-08-08T11:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32311"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:12:17","slug":"zohran-mamdani-accused-of-fake-ugandan-accent-in-2016-disney-clip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32311","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani accused of fake Ugandan accent in 2016 Disney clip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"beyondwords-wrapper\" data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"beyondwords-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"label-bg\">NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">A resurfaced 2016 interview with New York City Mayor <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516823\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/zohran-mamdani\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a> sparked conservative backlash Wednesday after critics accused him of using a &#8220;fake&#8221; Ugandan accent while promoting his mother&#8217;s Disney film.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">While promoting Queen of Katwe during a 2016 interview on South <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516824\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/world-regions\/africa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Africa<\/a>&#8216;s Kaya 959 radio station, Mamdani discussed Ugandan culture, dance and music, telling the host he was &#8220;from Uganda&#8221; but also grew up in New York.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The difference for me is I&#8217;m from Uganda, but I also grew up in New York. In New York, you go out, some guys are very hesitant to dance,&#8221; Mamdani said.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;You know, if they&#8217;re not grinding, they&#8217;re just standing. In Kampala, you will just not find that. People are all dancing. Everybody&#8217;s dancing, men, women and it&#8217;s fantastic that way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516825\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/aoc-accused-putting-new-accent-memphis-rally-going-full-kamala\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>AOC ACCUSED OF PUTTING ON NEW ACCENT DURING MEMPHIS RALLY: &#8216;GOING FULL KAMALA&#8217;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/343\/192\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/686\/384\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/672\/378\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1344\/756\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/931\/523\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1862\/1046\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/720\/405\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1440\/810\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1200\/675\/mamdani_001.png?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"Zohran Mamdani\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during an announcement on municipal grocery stores at a Campaign for Hunger community food distribution center in Brooklyn on July 27, 2026.<\/span> <span>(Adam Gray \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The clip, which also resurfaced last year, <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516826\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/tech\/topics\/viral\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quickly spread across social media<\/a> again and prompted a wave of mockery.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Look at theater kid commie Mamdani running another fake accent and appropriating African culture. Communists are all frauds. EVERY single one. Don&#8217;t ever trust a communist, or else you&#8217;ll get Galloway&#8217;d and stranded in a gulag,&#8221; former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516827\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/spencerpratt\/status\/2085036911735836994\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">In another <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516828\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bennyjohnson\/status\/2085179074247348642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">post on X<\/a>, The Benny Show host Benny Johnson wrote, &#8220;UNEARTHED: Zohran Mamdani does an obviously fake Ugandan accent while promoting a Disney movie based in Africa. How many Democrats have been caught using fake accents at this point? They&#8217;re all frauds.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Anyone else notice Mamdani&#8217;s accent change? He must&#8217;ve studied at Obama University,&#8221; Twitter Spaces host and conservative social media commentator Tara Bull <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516829\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TaraBull\/status\/2085082452192887125\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516830\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/mamdanis-deranged-israel-take-resurfaces-he-targets-netanyahu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>MAMDANI\u2019S \u2018DERANGED\u2019 ISRAEL TAKE RESURFACES AS HE TARGETS NETANYAHU<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/343\/192\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/686\/384\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/672\/378\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1344\/756\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/931\/523\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1862\/1046\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/720\/405\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1440\/810\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1200\/675\/spencer-pratt-ca-elections.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"Spencer Pratt speaking\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Spencer Pratt campaigns for mayor in Los Angeles, California.<\/span> <span>(HIGHFIVE\/Bauer-Griffin\/GC Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Nobody does a fake accent better than a Democrat politician,&#8221; the Daily Wire <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516831\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/realDailyWire\/status\/2085043546113851494\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Has Zohran Mamdani ever explained when adopting another culture\u2019s accent is &#8220;<a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516832\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/topic\/cancel-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cultural appropriation<\/a>&#8221; and when it is &#8220;authenticity&#8221;? He had plenty to say about everyone else\u2019s privilege at Bowdoin,&#8221; Former Crazy Eddie CFO and convicted fraudster Sammy Antar <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516833\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SamAntar\/status\/2085037685454852179\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Conservative Brief, a right-wing political news website, <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516834\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ConservBrief\/status\/2085337866939334696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">also posted on X<\/a>, &#8220;Another One?! Here&#8217;s some footage found of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani attempting to use a fake Ugandan accent while promoting a movie based in Africa. What is with the Democrats and their fake accents?!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516835\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/flashback-mamdanis-history-dodging-questions-about-where-he-stands-key-issues\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>FLASHBACK: MAMDANI&#8217;S HISTORY OF DODGING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHERE HE STANDS ON KEY ISSUES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/343\/192\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/686\/384\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/672\/378\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1344\/756\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/931\/523\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1862\/1046\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/720\/405\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1440\/810\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1200\/675\/zohran-mamdani-family.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"Zohran\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Zohran Mamdani (D-NY) stands with his mother Mira Nair, and father Mahmood Mamdani as they celebrate during an election night gathering at The Greats of Craft LIC on June 24, 2025, in the Long Island City neighborhood of the Queens borough in New York City.<\/span> <span>(Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;When did Disney start to suck? When they hired the directors son who had a fake Ugandan accent. He didn\u2019t mind &#8220;big corporations&#8221; when they were signing his checks,&#8221; Kevin Smith, host of Loud Majority Live, <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516836\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kevin_smith45\/status\/2085002725876548096\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_516837\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/mamdani-this-is-only-the-beginning-announcement-cracking-down-food-delivery-tips-sparks-outrage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mamdani, who holds<\/a> dual U.S. and Ugandan citizenship, was born in Uganda, raised in South Africa and moved to New York City at age 7.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The film, directed by Mamdani&#8217;s mother, Mira Nair, is based on the true story of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi. Mamdani is credited as the music supervisor and third assistant director and appears in a brief on-screen cameo.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor&#8217;s office for comment.<\/p>\n<p> <!----> <!----> <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p>Kiera McDonald is a Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A resurfaced 2016 interview with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sparked conservative backlash Wednesday after critics accused him of using a &#8220;fake&#8221; Ugandan accent while promoting his mother&#8217;s Disney film. While promoting Queen of Katwe during a 2016 interview on South Africa&#8216;s Kaya 959 radio station,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mamdani_001.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}