{"id":78567,"date":"2026-09-11T14:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/11\/aoc-mamdani-interaction-caught-on-cam-at-9-11-memorial-sparks-online-fury\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:55:15","slug":"aoc-mamdani-interaction-caught-on-cam-at-9-11-memorial-sparks-online-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/11\/aoc-mamdani-interaction-caught-on-cam-at-9-11-memorial-sparks-online-fury\/","title":{"rendered":"AOC, Mamdani interaction\u00a0caught on cam at 9\/11 memorial sparks online fury"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were lambasted Friday for appearing to share a moment of levity at the 9\/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan during the solemn reading-of-the-names of victims.<\/p>\n

Mamdani was already facing criticism from some 9\/11 victims\u2019 families over his attendance when a television feed showing the reading of victims\u2019 names cut from a young man sobbing at the memorial to the mayor and congresswoman appearing to grin and laugh as they spoke, though their conversation was inaudible.<\/p>\n

“Disgraceful,” said Steve Guest, a former top staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “AOC and Mamdani look happy.”<\/p>\n

MAMDANI HEADS TO 9\/11 MEMORIAL DESPITE 110,000-SIGNATURE PUSH FROM VICTIMS\u2019 FAMILIES TO STAY AWAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“They always show us who they really are,” another critic on X said.<\/p>\n

Others critics were more direct.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Why the f— are these two laughing?” Meghan McCain<\/a>, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FAMILIES OF 9\/11 VICTIMS’ MESSAGE TO MAMDANI: ‘PLEASE DO NOT COME’ TO MEMORIAL CEREMONY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, a top member of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s entourage claimed that the video was taken out of context.<\/p>\n

“The videos of [them] laughing are not true. I was standing next to them the whole time,” tweeted Michael Ragusa<\/a>, reportedly head of Giuliani’s security as of 2025, according to WPIX-11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats.”<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Republican Committee suggested on X that the sight was one of the reasons 9\/11 victims families didn\u2019t want the mayor there, while former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt also sounded off.<\/p>\n

ZOHRAN MAMDANI URGED TO SKIP NEW YORK CITY’S 9\/11 MEMORIAL: ‘VILE ANTISEMITE’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“While normal Americans cry, commie Mamdani and AOC laugh it up at the 9\/11 memorial in New York,” Pratt said.<\/p>\n

“They hate you. They hate your country. They enjoy your misery. We cannot allow these people to have power.”<\/p>\n

A New York City lawmaker added that she was outraged to see Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez acting that way.<\/p>\n

“After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep,” said Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, R-Brighton Beach. “This is NYC\u2019s Mayor.”<\/p>\n

RETIRED PORT AUTHORITY OFFICERS TELL MAMDANI, HOCHUL TO STAY AWAY FROM GROUND ZERO ON 9\/11<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Richard Sementa, better known as “Mr. Producer” for Mark Levin\u2019s national radio show, tweeted, “Un-freaking believable.”<\/p>\n

Juanita Broaddrick called Mamdani and AOC “two disgusting degenerates” on X.<\/p>\n

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who continues to criticize democratic socialists<\/a> and opponents of Israel, called the mayor “Jihad Mamdani” and said he and the congresswoman should not be anywhere near Ground Zero.<\/p>\n

“They do not mourn this country, they mock it,” he tweeted. “Have some damn respect.”<\/p>\n

“As the names of Americans murdered on September 11th are read aloud at Ground Zero, AOC and Mamdani are laughing and smiling together,” said Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas.<\/p>\n

“There is a time and a place for politics. This isn\u2019t it. Ground Zero is sacred ground.”<\/p>\n

“September 11 is not a photo op, it is not a networking event,” said Hunt.<\/p>\n

Separately, Mamdani was seen at other points standing somberly between New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York first gentleman William Hochul Jr.<\/p>\n

But critics continued pointing out what one called the “jarring split-screen” of the mayor joking around with Ocasio-Cortez a split-second after the mourner was seen sobbing over the shadow “fountain” at the footprint of the Twin Towers.<\/p>\n

“What exactly is funny?” former Trump White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson asked.<\/p>\n

Former NYPD cop and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro tweeted what he envisioned the two discussing.<\/p>\n

“Zo[hran]: You\u2019re not buying into this \u2018never again\u2019 bull— are you? AOC: \u2018No, not me,\u2019 Hilarity ensues.”<\/p>\n

SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear what the two politicians were chatting about at that moment.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were lambasted Friday for appearing to share a moment of levity at the 9\/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan during the solemn reading-of-the-names of victims. Mamdani was already facing criticism from some 9\/11 victims\u2019 families over his attendance when a television feed showing the reading … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}