Viral Videos Show Former Obama Official Launch Racist Rants Against New York City Food Cart Vendor

A video capturing a former official from the Obama administration engaging in racist verbal attacks against a New York City food cart vendor has gained widespread attention.

The footage, initially shared on X by a student at Columbia University on Tuesday, depicts Stuart Seldowitz, the former acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate (2009-2011). In the videos, Seldowitz employs offensive language to ridicule the unidentified Upper East Side halal vendor’s proficiency in English, citizenship status, and Islamic faith.

“Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad did?” In the initial video, Seldowitz addresses the vendor, making a reference to the Prophet Muhammad, a highly esteemed figure in Islam. The footage captures the vendor consistently stating his inability to communicate in English and requesting Seldowitz to depart.

Following that, Seldowitz seems to capture an image of the vendor and issues a threat to share it with acquaintances in Immigration and the Mukhabarat, Egypt’s intelligence agency. He goes on to suggest that the organization might inflict harm on the vendor’s family by extracting their fingernails. The vendor’s nationality remains uncertain.

Subsequently, he criticizes the vendor as ignorant, presuming an inability to speak English.

In the second video, Seldowitz continues to harass the vendor during another encounter, inquiring about the presence of a permit for street food vending and questioning the possession of a visa.

The vendor advises Seldowitz to depart if he has no intention of making a purchase. However, Seldowitz persists, seemingly accusing the vendor of supporting Hamas.

A separate video shared by another user on X depicts Seldowitz once more inquiring about the vendor’s legal status in the country. A bystander intervenes to come to the vendor’s defense.

Following the emergence of the videos, Seldowitz informed the Daily Beast that they only depict one facet of the entire incident. While acknowledging initiating the initial conversation with the vendor, he asserted that the vendor sparked the escalation by expressing support for Hamas.

On Tuesday evening, Gotham Government Relations, a New York City-based lobbying group where Seldowitz served as a consultant, terminated its association with the former Obama official.