In the annals of comedy, there are some truly legendary jokes.
From “The Aristocrats” (which, in good conscience, I cannot recommend you look up unless you have a very dirty sense of humor) to “Why did the chicken cross the road,” to “A priest, a minister, and a rabbi…” some jokes simply endure the test of time.
While perhaps not as iconic or old as the above three jokes, Norm MacDonald’s terrorism joke is absolutely worthy of being among that pantheon — and is probably the late comic’s greatest joke.
You can watch the bit for yourself below:
After a back-and-forth with far-left comedian Margaret Cho (who did not get the joke, which makes it all the more funnier) Norm dropped this anecdote.
“I can’t say my friend’s name, but he said his biggest fear is that ISIS or some terrorist group like that will get a hold of a dirty bomb that exploded over a major city within the United States and kill tens of millions of people — because then the blowback against… innocent Muslims would be absolutely terrible.”
Cho seemed to agree with this assessment, as did Adam Eget, MacDonald’s longtime liberal-leaning sidekick.
Neither Cho nor Eget seemed to understand that this was a joke where MacDonald was mercilessly satirizing misplaced priorities.
The joke, MacDonald’s iconic deadpanning, and the complete whiff from Cho and Eget instantly made this one of the most legendary clips of MacDonald’s career.
That whole bit was funny. What’s about to follow… not so much.
Speaking of radically misplaced priorities, here’s New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani crying crocodile tears while he (unintentionally) brought MacDonald’s joke to life.
Take a watch:
Zohran tries to force a tear as he speaks out on being a victim of “Islamophobia” pic.twitter.com/7tnAdsCo9b
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 24, 2025
“I want to take this moment to speak to the Muslims of New York City,” Mamdani began (insert emotional pause). “I want to speak to the memory of my aunt…”
(Insert even more emotional pause.)
“… Who stopped taking the subway after September 11th, because she did not feel safe in her hijab.”
Yes, Zohran, your aunt was the real victim of 9/11. Give me a break.
Much in the same way The Babylon Bee has openly admitted that it’s getting harder to satirize the left as the left rapidly becomes more and more absurd, it appears MacDonald’s joke bore eerily true.
This is the leading candidate for New York City mayor openly weeping about 9/11 because… his aunt was afraid to take the subway due to her restrictive garb. Seriously?
Imagine telling a New York firefighter on September 12th, 2001 that within 25 years, a socialist mayoral candidate would be leading the race while sympathizing for all of the “blowback” on the Muslims.
You would be laughed at, or worse.
But enough about hypotheticals. This is a very real situation that could portend New York City, one of the most iconic cities in all of U.S. history.. turning into something like Little Somalia Minnesota.
The only joke here is Mamdani’s rhetoric. And for some reason, New York City voters are finding it funny — not scary.
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