Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the 9/11 memorial ceremony has sparked a huge row online, with critics and defenders clashing over what really happened. A brief moment between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep.
What critics said
This is NYC’s Mayor. Rep. Have some damn respect. There is a time and a place for politics. This isn’t it. Ground Zero is sacred ground.
Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said , “After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep. Randy Fine called the mayor “Jihad Mamdani” and said, “They do not mourn this country, they mock it. Wesley Hunt said , “As the names of Americans murdered on September 11th are read aloud at Ground Zero, AOC and Mamdani are laughing and smiling together. He also said, “September 11 is not a photo op, it is not a networking event.”
Not everyone agreed with the criticism. He wrote on X , “The videos of [them] laughing are not true. I was standing next to them the whole time. The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats.
Michael Ragusa, who was Rudy Giuliani’s head of security, said he was standing right next to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez the entire time. Niou added that Ocasio-Cortez’s interaction with Mamdani “was just when she walked up to him and said hello.”
