Zohran Mamdani has admitted listing his race as “black” on a college admission form. He is not black—he is ethnically South Asian because, by his own admission, his ancestors all came from India. It is impossible to know what went through his head when Mamdani lied on his Columbia University admission form, but the most obvious reason for doing so would have been to give himself an advantage over other applicants. If that was the case, it was not just lying; it was cheating.

Lying on a college admission form is not a criminal offense, but most would say it is unethical. It does not reflect the sort of integrity that one would expect in the mayor of America’s largest city. I would say it’s not at all different from what Elizabeth Warren (“Pocahontas”) did in representing herself as a Native American.

In the academic world, at least before the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in admissions, a great deal of preference was given to minority candidates, and surely Mamdani would have known that. His excuses so far have been remarkably lame: Since he was born in Uganda, he was “sort of” black, and he wanted to “fully represent” himself. Or another: There was “no place on the form” to list himself as “born in Africa” but not African, but “Asian, so he checked “black” and “Asian.” I think most people would say this was disingenuous. It seems he was taking advantage.

A Big, Fat Liar - American Thinker