Laila Al-Arian says Wexler's jokes would end a career if they were not about a Muslim

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Comedian Arynne Wexler's roast jokes about Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji draw Islamophobia charges; Piers Morgan calls them "disgusting"

Comedian Arynne Wexler performed at Commentary magazine's annual fundraising roast on November 8, 2026, and posted a clip of her set on X on November 12. In the clip, as transcribed by VT, she calls New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani "The Grand Mufti of New York," says he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, use "old speeches of Ayatollah Khamenei" as "foreplay," and says of their meeting on Hinge, "I assumed he bought her," then "When she was 12," then that she was kidding and "she was 13," and that they met on JDate, where "the J stands for 'jihad'." Piers Morgan quote-posted the clip with the word "Disgusting." Daniel B. Shapiro, Khaled Elgindy, Laila Al-Arian and Negar Mortazavi also condemned it; Elgindy called the jokes racist and Islamophobic. Richard Hanania called them dumb right-wing comedy. Will Chamberlain wrote that Wexler did nothing wrong. Wexler answered Morgan with a clip from his own show, and Morgan replied that the jokes were repellent. We could not locate a public response from Mamdani, Duwaji or the mayor's office.