Ex-Obama Adviser’s Shocking Islamophobic Screed Caught on Camera


A former national security adviser under President Obama was caught on video berating a Muslim street vendor in New York City, calling the man a “terrorist,” describing the prophet Mohammed as a “rapist,” and warning that he and his family would be tortured by the security services “when they deport you back to Egypt.”

After the footage went viral across social media on Tuesday, and people on X, formerly Twitter, attempted to crowdsource his identity, Stuart Seldowitz confirmed to The Daily Beast that he was indeed the man recorded.

“The bottom line is, yes it’s me,” Seldowitz said

After calling the man “ignorant” and denigrating him for “selling food in a food cart,” Seldowitz tells him to “learn English… [because it] will help you when they deport you back to Egypt and the Mukhabarat wants to interview you.”

In a second clip posted by the same user, Seldowitz, who served as deputy director/senior political officer in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs before becoming acting director of the National Security Council South Asia Directorate during the Obama administration, can be heard telling the vendor, “If we killed 4,000 palestinian kids, it wasn’t enough.”

“It’s not my fault that you pray to a criminal,” Seldowitz says at one point.

On Tuesday, Seldowitz told The Daily Beast that the footage only shows one side of the story, and that the vendor touched things off by expressing his support for Hamas. He said he proceeded to question the vendor about his stance, saying he thought “there should be some comment back to someone who is endorsing terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians.”

Following the uproar online, a powerful lobbying and political communications shop where Seldowitz chaired, as recently as last year, the firm’s foreign affairs practice, severed ties with the career diplomat.