A satirical social media post has successfully duped parts of the internet, sparking a wave of manufactured outrage against New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani. The claim suggests he plans to impose a mandate requiring all elementary school students to learn “Arabic numerals.” This assertion has spread like wildfire across platforms, amplified by users who interpreted it as the beginning of an unwanted cultural shift.
However, this viral claim is entirely false, and the reality reveals a humorous misunderstanding of a term for a mathematical concept used by Americans every single day. The controversy, while baseless, highlights how quickly misinformation can eclipse substantive discussion of a politician’s actual platform and policy goals.
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The Viral Claim and Its Satirical Origins
The online firestorm was ignited by a post from the account @Polymarket on X, which proclaimed, “BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani to require all New York elementary school students to learn Arabic numerals.” This single tweet, which presented itself as a news alert, was a piece of satire designed to poke fun at political fearmongering. Despite its humorous intent, the post was taken at face value by a significant number of users and was further amplified by other accounts, including one operated by Derrick Evans, a participant in the January 6 Capitol attack.
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani to require all New York elementary school students to learn Arabic numerals.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) November 19, 2025
The reaction was swift and angry. Some users mistakenly saw the alleged policy as an “Islamification of New York,” a notion that played into pre-existing prejudices and misinformation targeting Mamdani, who is the city’s first Muslim mayor. The satirical post essentially functioned as an inadvertent IQ test, separating those who understood the joke from those who fell for it.
As one exasperated user noted, “My favorite genre of news headlines are the ones that double as IQ tests,” while another observed that the Department of Education had “destroyed this country” by failing to teach people what Arabic numerals actually are.
The Fact Check: We Already Use Arabic Numerals
The core reason this viral claim is false is simple: Arabic numerals are the standard numerical system used throughout the United States and the Western world. If you have ever used the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, you have used Arabic numerals. The name refers to the system’s historical transmission to Europe through medieval Arabic mathematicians, though the numerals themselves originally developed in India. There is no new policy to introduce them because they are already the foundation of mathematics taught in every school in New York and the nation.
Furthermore, there is no evidence of any such proposal from Mamdani or his team. His actual policy priorities, which formed the basis of his successful campaign, are focused on issues like implementing free city buses, establishing universal childcare, freezing rents on stabilized apartments, and creating a Social Housing Development Agency.
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The entire controversy is a manufactured crisis, distracting from the substantive and real policy debates that will shape New York City’s future. As the online discussion proved, a fictional math curriculum can, unfortunately, trend faster and generate more engagement than a genuine political platform.
