Suhag Shukla, the executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, a national group based in Philadelphia, said Mamdani’s criticism of Modi amounted to “fair game,” but that his “liberal use of the terms ‘extremist’ and ‘fascist’ in the context of Hindu American leaders” was “deeply troubling.”

The sit-down comes as Sliwa’s appeal grows. A recent HarrisX poll put him in a statistical tie with Mandami, Cuomo and Adams.