A former Obama administration staffer who once publicly wished death on President Donald Trump has found new work as a communications consultant for Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani—a democratic socialist who has called for "seizing the means of production"—triumphed in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary last week and officially secured the nomination on Tuesday, making him an instant frontrunner in the November general election.
His campaign paid Zara Rahim $3,500 for communications consulting in May, records show. Before working for Mamdani, Rahim was best known for expressing her hope that Trump would die of coronavirus after he contracted the disease in fall 2020.
"It’s been against my moral identity to tweet this for the past four years, but, I hope he dies," Rahim posted on X in October of that year, just days after Trump’s diagnosis. She later deleted the post.
"This f—ing rules," she later added after locking her X account, the Independent reported at the time.
Rahim, a child of Bangladeshi immigrants, has worked closely with Mamdani in recent weeks. She has helped the mayoral nominee craft campaign videos and accompanied him backstage during his Sunday appearance on Meet the Press.
Rahim volunteered for former president Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign and went on to work in his Office of Digital Strategy in 2013 and 2014. She then spent five months as a national spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. Other clients of hers include Mariah Carey, Netflix, Nike, Uber, and Columbia University’s Incite Institute—"where scholars, changemakers, artists, and others come together."
Rahim was present at Columbia’s campus during the period of time in spring 2024 when student activists erected a pro-Hamas encampment on a university lawn. She bemoaned in an X post the police presence at Columbia while the encampment stood.
Rahim has long been a vocal presence on social media.
"Who’s doing the 'America is a garbage can' themed Fourth of July style guide????" she asked in June 2018. On a similar note, she posted "I hate this country" after asking which prescription drugs she could buy over the counter abroad.
In a post complaining about the cost of a bagel with lox and a coffee, Rahim said "I hate New York." She has also expressed support for the "Defund the Police" movement, a sentiment that Mamdani has also shared.
Rahim is not Mamdani’s only notable campaign hire. His political director, Julian Gerson, took heat for offering a gushing assessment of alleged United Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione.
Mangione, Gerson wrote, "is adored not only because he dared to target a leader of one of the most vile, self-enriching industries darkening our society today, but because he dared to defy the stasis of nihilistic rejection." He added on Facebook that he was "looking forward to driving down Mangione Avenue."
Mamdani also once employed Matthew Thomas, a fellow democratic socialist who spent three months in a Delaware jail after soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy.
Neither Rahim nor the Mamdani campaign responded to the Washington Free Beacon's requests for comment.