How Political Ambiguity Transforms Across Digital Platforms: Mechanisms of Discourse Radicalization in the Case of Zohran Mamdani

This study examines how politically ambiguous rhetoric about Israel-Palestine transforms into antisemitic discourse through three circulation phases: elite political statements, digital influencer reframing, and audience commentary. We present a three-phase model analyzing how elite political statements undergo systematic semantic shifts: from initial strategically ambiguous positioning by political figures, through intermediary reinterpretation by digital content creators, to participatory radicalization in audience comment sections. Through Critical Discourse Analysis informed by pragmalinguistics and conservative attribution principles, we analyze statements by New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani regarding Israel-Palestine, reframings by four progressive influencers (Hasan Piker, Vaush, Kyle Kulinski, and YourFavoriteGuy), and 3,404 audience comments across 17 videos on YouTube and TikTok. Our dataset spans primary discourse (Mamdani's original statements), secondary discourse (content creator reframings), and tertiary discourse (audience responses), enabling systematic investigation of transformation mechanisms across circulation layers.