New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash over his rhetoric after being snubbed from speaking at the funeral of a U.S. service member and being the subject of a petition drive to not participate in next month\u2019s 25th anniversary memorial services for the Sept 11 attacks.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mamdani was reportedly angry after not being called upon Friday to eulogize Army Staff Sgt. Angel Sarah Rampersad at her funeral in Queens, where he sat in the fourth row. Other elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, were called upon for remarks.<\/p>\n
The New York Post first reported that Mr. Mamdani looked irritated at his staff when he realized he was being shunned.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mamdani, an outspoken democratic socialist who has condemned Israel and the U.S. war against Iran, has become nationally known for his rhetoric. The Post reported that Rampersad\u2019s family are supporters of President Trump and did not want the mayor to speak.<\/p>\n
Rampersad, 28, was one of three U.S. soldiers killed on July 17 during an Iranian missile attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.<\/p>\n
The eulogy snub happened not long after a petition was launched to call on Mr. Mamdani to not attend the 25th anniversary memorial events. Petition organizers say he\u2019s sympathetic toward radical Islamists and refuses to condemn antisemitism.<\/p>\n
The three-week-old petition was started by Brooklyn-born, Florida real estate agent Giovanni Galante, whose 29-year-old wife, Grace Catherine Galante, was among the 2,977 people killed by al Qaeda terrorists 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 25 years, it\u2019s kind of a slap in the face that this guy being someone [who] supports terrorists and follows people that think we deserve 9\/11 is really an insult,\u201d Mr. Galante told The Washington Times. \u201cThat\u2019s all it comes down to. And as far as speaking with some of the family members, we all feel that after 25 years, we really have to fight something that should be common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
His petition drive collected more than almost 70,000 signatures by Sunday morning, and includes about 300 family members of 9\/11 victims.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mamdani\u2019s supporters have pushed back on the petition through a nonprofit funded by leftist billionaire George Soros known as September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, which was founded by a group of 9\/11 relatives in 2002.<\/p>\n
The organization is known to criticize U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.<\/p>\n
President Trump has weighed in on the effort to keep Mr. Mamdani away from the 9\/11 memorial services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I think they\u2019re having a hard time with Mamdani,\u201d Mr. Trump told The Times. \u201cThe people having to do with 9\/11, the victims\u2019 side \u2026 there are a lot of them who are very unhappy with what\u2019s going on in New York, and they\u2019re very unhappy with the mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n