{"id":285931,"date":"2026-09-14T19:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/285931\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T19:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:22:28","slug":"zohran-mamdani-aoc-spotted-laughing-at-9-11-ceremony-while-victims-families-weep-during-reading-of-names","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/285931\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani, AOC spotted laughing at 9\/11 ceremony while victims’ families weep during reading of names"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>\u00a0and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were caught yukking it up during the somber reading of 9\/11 victims at Ground Zero during the\u00a025th anniversary service<\/a>\u00a0Friday.<\/p>\n

The New York City Democratic Socialists of America darlings appeared all smiles in a live feed of the ceremony, interspersed with shots of a man cradling his head in his arms and bawling his eyes out\u00a0while\u00a0friends and family read\u00a0out the names of their departed loved ones from the podium.<\/p>\n

Follow live updates as America honors the 25th anniversary of 9\/11, in NYC and across the nation<\/a><\/p>\n

Pointed reactions online to the apparent show of disrespect at the site where thousands of Americans were murdered by terrorists were quick to emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani and AOC are spotted laughing at a 9\/11 ceremony during the solemn reading of the names. FOX 5 NY<\/p>\n

The New York City Democratic Socialists of America darlings appeared all smiles in a live feed of the ceremony. FOX 5 NY<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy the f\u2013k are these two laughing?!?\u201d Meghan McCain, former \u201cThe View\u201d host and daughter of late GOP Sen. John McCain, wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow the hell do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9\/11 are being read aloud? Why would you do so?\u201d wondered Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep. This is NYC\u2019s Mayor,\u201d scolded Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.<\/p>\n

One insider told The Post that the ungraceful scene unfolded after Mamdani was notably left standing alone once Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Attorney General Letitia James and and Sen. Chuck Schumer shuffled out mid-ceremony<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wanted to be by him,\u201d the source said. \u201cIt was awkward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, people were seen weeping as names of fallen victims were read aloud during the memorial service commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terrorist attack. FOX 5 NY<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s commissioners and AOC then moved to fill up the seats around him, which led to the seemingly jovial exchange between the two.<\/p>\n

The source defended the mayor, saying he stayed somber and respectful and outlasted most politicians, staying until the end of the ceremony and\u00a0talking with victims\u2019 families, but conceded Hizzoner left himself open to any bit of criticism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More coverage on the 25th Anniversary of 9\/11:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t help his case,\u201d the insider quipped. \u201cThis guy doesn\u2019t distance himself from people who say America deserved to be attacked. And where the f\u2014k was his wife? She misses America 250, now this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s wife, Rama Duwaji\u00a0has rarely attended mayoral functions \u2014 claiming to be a private person as the Big Apple\u2019s first lady \u2014 but has\u00a0made appearances at\u00a0the Knicks\u2019\u00a0ticker-tape parade and NYC Fashion Week.<\/p>\n

Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez listen as the names of victims are read during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of 9\/11 on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s very presence at the commemorative event\u00a0stood in defiance to\u00a0a campaign by\u00a0aggrieved 9\/11 victims\u2019 relatives<\/a>, who earlier this week hand-delivered him a petition urging him to steer clear of the ceremonies marking the attack.<\/p>\n

But former Mayor Rudy Giuliani\u2019s head of security, Michael Ragusa, said the widely circulating video of Mamdani and AOC\u2019s moment of mirth lacked context, claiming he was standing right next to them at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd for the record I am a life long republican who has been very critical of these two,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

A short time before his DSA comrade chuckled by his side, Mamdani was seen shaking hands in an awkward interaction with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

An insider said Giuliani gave the mayor one of the warmer welcomes while others \u201ciced him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the elected wanted to be near him,\u201d they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Thursday night, Hizzoner took part in a Manhattan 9\/11 memorial walk, with stops at Christian, Jewish and Muslim houses of worship \u2014 though Mamdani only joined for the final stop at an Islamic center.<\/p>\n

Mamdani was criticized on the campaign trail for appearing to trivialize the terror attacks, fighting back tears in front of a cadre of Muslim leaders as he told the story of how his \u201cAuntie\u201d was personally victimized.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after Sept. 11 because she did not feel safe in her hjiab,\u201d then-candidate Mamdani intoned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u00a0and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were caught yukking it up during the somber reading of 9\/11 victims…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[118088,115842,118510,87156,58133,238,50,128,130,129,302,18151],"class_list":["post-285931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-9-11-25th-anniversary","tag-9-11","tag-9-11-memorial","tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","tag-metro","tag-new-york-city","tag-politics","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}