One of New York’s top Democrats is under fire for her choice of headwear at a recent event.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul wore a black hijab while speaking at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York last Friday, immediately sparking controversy.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Jesse Kelly, host of I’m Right, to discuss Hochul’s ensemble and the backlash to it.
The Controversy
Over the weekend, X account End Wokeness posted a video of Hochul addressing what appeared to be a group of men at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York in Manhattan while wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black headscarf.
“‘Feminist icon’ NY Governor Hochul just put on a hijab for Muslim men,” the caption read.
The clip quickly spread on social media where the governor, who is up for reelection in November, was branded a hypocrite for seemingly eschewing her feminist bonafides and condemned for participating in the event so close to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Hochul faced similar criticism last year when she wore a headscarf to the funeral of a Muslim police officer. After being called out on social media by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), she claimed she was showing respect for a “grieving family’s faith” as “leaders and anyone with basic decency would do.”
Back in February 2024, Hochul posted on X in celebration of “World Hijab Day” along with a picture of herself in a blue patterned head covering.
“On #WorldHijabDay, we stand in solidarity with our Muslim sisters who choose to wear the hijab. New York’s diversity has always been its strength, and together, we will always promote respect, inclusion, and religious freedom in the face of hate,” she wrote at the time.
Why It Matters
Hochul is not the first New York Dem to face scrutiny for covering up. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) was similarly criticized when she showed up to an Eid event in her Bronx district with her head covered.
Their defenders argue that they are simply being respectful of culture and customs, but Megyn wasn’t buying it. “Are they respectful of our customs? Do they come into our communities and take off their hijab because they’re in America now and we show our hair, and we don’t believe that women have to hide anything whatsoever to go anywhere or be anywhere? No, they don’t. They do their own thing,” she noted.
“So, why does Kathy Hochul or AOC? There’s all this video now emerging of these so-called feminist leaders on the left. Why do they have to hide their hair so as not to offend Muslims in an Islamic center when they don’t care about offending our customs and wearing their hijabs,” Megyn wondered. “Whatever. Most of us don’t really give a shit. We don’t pay attention to what they’re doing with their hair or not doing with their hair. But I’d be caught dead before I’d put a hijab on inside an Islamic center or anywhere else for that matter.”
In Kelly’s view, it does matter. “This is what it looks like to be conquered. It’s not more complicated than that. If you import enough Islam into your country, the women will wear hijabs. You will have halal food everywhere. You will hear the Muslim call to prayer in the parking lot several times a day. This is what it looks like to be conquered, and we are being conquered,” he explained.
“Every time you import more Islam into your country, you guarantee these things. These things are absolutely inevitable… This is what is coming for the West – it’s already come for places like the U.K. and others – if it continues to be really nice and try to do everything possible to avoid being called bigot and racist,” Kelly continued. “If the goal of the West is to avoid accusations of bigotry, then get used to it. It’s not going to be Kathy Hochul. It’ll be every woman who resides inside the borders of the United States of America. That is what happens… This is what it looks like to slowly be conquered.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Kelly by tuning in to episode 1,387 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.