Debra Messing is coming under fire for sharing Islamophobic memes targeted at New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

The "Will and Grace" actress, who has publicly supported former New York City Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign, shared several memes and videos on her Instagram story about the election, including videos calling the assemblyman "Osama bin Mamdani" and encouraging New Yorkers to "vote no to terrorism."

She also reposted a meme that, according to Entertainment Weekly and The Independent, suggested Mamdani is "An Actual Communist Jihadist… A literal Karl Marx-quoting, America-hating jihadist." The latter post no longer appeared to be up as of Nov. 5.

USA TODAY has reached out to Messing's reps for comment.

Mamdani is a democratic socialist, not a communist, which differ in that communist societies are not democratic.

Mamdani is also Muslim, born in Uganda, and moved to the United States with his parents when he was a young child. He became a U.S. citizen shortly after graduating from college. There is no evidence that Mamdani, who has condemned terrorist attacks – including Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel – supports "jihad," which means a struggle against enemies of Islam.

On Oct. 25, Messing posted on Instagram that she voted for Cuomo because New Yorkers "need someone with experience" and that "our city is too massive, complex, and consequential" for Mamdani, who "has never held a job." But on Tuesday, Messing reshared posts attacking Mamdani's support for Palestine and publicly identifying his volunteers. She also reshared a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump calling Mamdani a "JEW HATER" and criticizing Jewish people for voting for him.

Mamdani has criticized the Israeli government, but has pushed back on claims he is antisemitic. Messing is Jewish and an advocate for Israel.

One of the comments on Messing's recent Instagram posts decried the "deeply Islamophobic post in your stories maligning all Muslims," while X users called Messing's social media posts a "meltdown."

"I think Zohran has actually broken her brain," another user wrote on X. "Although it wasn’t in great shape before this mayoral election anyway. Fascinating albeit kinda scary to watch though."

Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Debra Messing under fire for sharing meme calling Zohran Mamdani a 'jihadist'

Reporting by Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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