Son of 1993 WTC bombing victim calls NJ Democrat primary winner 'disappointing' over terror ties

Macko, a "lifelong Democrat" born and raised in New Jersey, expressed his dissatisfaction with Hamawy's victory Tuesday in the Garden State.

"This is just something that… I can't look past," he added.

Hamawy met Abdel-Rahman, an influential leader among al-Qaeda terrorists known as the "Blind Sheikh," at a New Jersey middle school forum in 1991. He later testified as a witness for the defense in Abdel-Rahman's case.

Hamawy testified as a witness for the defense and has faced lingering questions about his association with the sheik.

"[Hamawy] also testified that the Blind Sheik was preaching about jihad against America, and then… at the same time, while actually plotting a jihad that killed my father," Macko noted.

Hamawy's campaign previously told Fox News Digital that his former affiliation with Abdel Rahman amounts to "guilt-by-association" shaming.

Macko questioned claims from Hamawy's campaign that the Democrat had no ties to Abdel-Rahman after the cleric's arrest.

"It was the time leading up to him, you know the time that he spent with him, you know between 1991, 1993 when the bombing was being planned," he said.

"Hamawy was traveling with him around the country, acting as an interpreter. And even during the trial, he testified that he translated a fax in 1993," Macko added. "That's the year that the bombing took place. It's just too much of a coincidence that Hamawy did not have any idea of what was going on."

Court records characterized Abdel-Rahman's Jersey City mosque as a "jihad office."

In a statement, Hamawy's campaign wrote that the New Jersey Democrat "condemns that man's violent rhetoric and actions, and all violence, hatred, and terrorism."