{"id":78645,"date":"2026-09-13T17:55:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T22:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/13\/trump-unloads-on-aoc-mamdani-for-laughing-during-sacred-9-11-ceremony-at-ground-zero\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T17:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T22:55:12","slug":"trump-unloads-on-aoc-mamdani-for-laughing-during-sacred-9-11-ceremony-at-ground-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/13\/trump-unloads-on-aoc-mamdani-for-laughing-during-sacred-9-11-ceremony-at-ground-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump unloads on AOC, Mamdani for laughing during sacred 9\/11 ceremony at Ground Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/category\/person\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">President Donald Trump<\/a> slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for appearing to laugh during the solemn reading of victims\u2019 names at the 9\/11 Memorial, calling their behavior &#8220;terrible&#8221; and &#8220;inappropriate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it\u2019s terrible,&#8221; Trump said when asked about the video of the two Democrats. &#8220;It\u2019s not a place to be laughing, especially in that case.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I thought it was terrible,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;The fact that they were laughing together at a very important part of the ceremony was inappropriate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s condemnation came after video of Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani sharing what appeared to be a lighthearted exchange at Ground Zero sparked widespread criticism online.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/politics\/aoc-mamdani-interaction-caught-cam-9-11-memorial-sparks-online-fury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>AOC, MAMDANI INTERACTION\u00a0CAUGHT ON CAM AT 9\/11 MEMORIAL SPARKS ONLINE FURY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A television feed from Friday\u2019s ceremony showed a young man overcome with emotion near the memorial before cutting to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez smiling and appearing to laugh as they spoke. Their conversation could not be heard.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/us\/9-11-widow-terry-strada-accuses-us-protecting-saudi-arabia-25-years-after-terror-attacks-addresses-vance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>9\/11 WIDOW TERRY STRADA ACCUSES US OF PROTECTING SAUDI ARABIA 25 YEARS AFTER TERROR ATTACKS, ADDRESSES VANCE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The moment unfolded as mourners read aloud the names of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing during ceremonies marking the <a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/politics\/25-years-later-9-11-memories-endure-nation-gathers-honor-nearly-3000-lives-lost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25th anniversary of 9\/11<\/a>. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 2001 attacks.<\/p>\n<p>The video quickly spread across social media, where critics accused the pair of showing disrespect on one of the nation\u2019s most solemn days.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/politics\/mamdani-attendance-911-remembrance-draws-rebuke-mourners-disrespectful\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>MAMDANI DRAWS FURY FROM 9\/11 MOURNERS OVER GROUND ZERO APPEARANCE: \u2018DISRESPECTFUL\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As the names of Americans murdered on September 11th are read aloud at Ground Zero, AOC and Mamdani are laughing and smiling together,&#8221; Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is a time and a place for politics. This isn\u2019t it. Ground Zero is sacred ground,&#8221; Hunt added. &#8220;September 11 is not a photo op, it is not a networking event.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/politics\/mamdani-heads-9-11-memorial-despite-110000-signature-push-from-victims-families-stay-away\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>MAMDANI HEADS TO 9\/11 MEMORIAL DESPITE 110,000-SIGNATURE PUSH FROM VICTIMS\u2019 FAMILIES TO STAY AWAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/category\/person\/meghan-mccain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meghan McCain<\/a> also reacted to the video, asking on X, &#8220;Why the f&#8212; are these two laughing?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican, similarly ripped the moment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/politics\/zohran-mamdani-urged-skip-new-york-citys-9-11-memorial-vile-antisemite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>ZOHRAN MAMDANI URGED TO SKIP NEW YORK CITY&#8217;S 9\/11 MEMORIAL: &#8216;VILE ANTISEMITE&#8217;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep,&#8221; Vernikov wrote. &#8220;This is NYC\u2019s Mayor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani had already faced opposition from some victims\u2019 families ahead of the ceremony. A petition urging him to <a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/politics\/mamdani-drops-massive-9-11-records-trove-old-claims-about-ground-zero-come-under-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stay away from Ground Zero<\/a> gathered more than 110,000 signatures, though Mamdani attended and remained for the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/media\/de-niro-calls-controversial-mamdani-police-comments-ridiculous-defends-mayor-going-911-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>DE NIRO CALLS CONTROVERSIAL MAMDANI POLICE COMMENTS &#8216;RIDICULOUS&#8217; AS HE DEFENDS MAYOR GOING TO 9\/11 SERVICE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, Michael Ragusa, who has served as a member of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani\u2019s entourage, disputed claims that Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez were joking about the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The videos of [them] laughing are not true. I was standing next to them the whole time,&#8221; Ragusa wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.com\/media\/ms-rachel-defends-awesome-mamdani-amid-911-memorial-controversy-says-victim-islamophobic-attacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>MS RACHEL DEFENDS &#8216;AWESOME&#8217; MAMDANI AMID 9\/11 MEMORIAL CONTROVERSY, SAYS HE&#8217;S VICTIM OF ISLAMOPHOBIC ATTACKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The camera just caught her greeting him hello,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani was seen standing somberly at other points during the ceremony. It remains unclear what he and Ocasio-Cortez discussed during the brief exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Fox News Digital previously reached out to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.<\/p>\n<p><i>Fox News Digital&#8217;s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for appearing to laugh during the solemn reading of victims\u2019 names at the 9\/11 Memorial, calling their behavior &#8220;terrible&#8221; and &#8220;inappropriate.&#8221; &#8220;I think it\u2019s terrible,&#8221; Trump said when asked about the video of the two Democrats. &#8220;It\u2019s not a place to &#8230; <a title=\"Trump unloads on AOC, Mamdani for laughing during sacred 9\/11 ceremony at Ground Zero\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/13\/trump-unloads-on-aoc-mamdani-for-laughing-during-sacred-9-11-ceremony-at-ground-zero\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Trump unloads on AOC, Mamdani for laughing during sacred 9\/11 ceremony at Ground Zero\">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-78645","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\/78645","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=78645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}