Neither Blakeman’s campaign nor Williams responded to a request for comment prior to publication. Anabilah-Azumah told The New Republic that his comments were not about 9/11 victims, their families, or the first responders who acted that day, but were instead commentary on the militaristic shift that occurred in the country following the attack. “I believe that elements within the US government orchestrated 9/11 in order to get the public to accept mass surveillance and ‘forever wars,’” Anabilah-Azumah told TNR.
Local leaders were outraged by Blakeman’s attachments. Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, whose district includes Ground Zero, said that it was “downright appalling” that Blakeman would “campaign with, and seek endorsements from dyed-in-the-wool 9/11 conspiracy theorists.”
Nadler’s colleague Representative Nydia Velazquez shared his sentiment. “I’ve spent more than two decades fighting for 9/11 victims and their families to get the care they need after that horrific day,” she said. “I never thought I’d see someone, like Bruce Blakeman, running for governor while associating with 9/11 conspiracy theorists.