New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani identified as both Asian and African American on his 2009 Columbia University application, the New York Times reported Thursday, prompting anger and ridicule from many as news spread Friday. Some accused him of being a fraud while others suggested he was trying to abuse affirmative action.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democrat running for mayor of New York City, was born in Uganda. He doesn’t consider himself Black but said the application didn’t allow for the complexity of his background.