New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rudy Giuliani, who was the city’s mayor on Sept. 11, 2001, were seen shaking hands at the 25th anniversary ceremony in Lower Manhattan on Friday, even though Giuliani has made no secret of his distaste for the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Giuliani posted a photo on Facebook after Mamdani’s election, suggesting another 9/11 might happen during his term. He also told Newsmax on Sunday that Mamdani should stay away from Friday’s ceremony.
“There’s no question he should [skip the commemoration event],” Giuliani told the outlet. “I mean, the reality is this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically.”
Giuliani added that “having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.”
Despite that, the clip below shows Mamdani reaching out to Giuliani and offering his hand. Giuliani has a slight smile at first, but after a few seconds of talking, he seems to grimace before they go their separate ways.
Mamdani told CBS News shortly after that Giuliani came over first.
“He came over, and we both extended our hand and exchanged pleasantries,” Mamdani said. “And I think the focus for all of us is the focus on the families, focus on the first responders, and to be here, and hear all the names of all those who were stolen from us 25 years ago, and how the families have persevered through that time.”
The Hill noted that Giuliani’s rationale for wanting Mamdani to stay away “was about Mamdani’s beliefs.”
“They have every desire to take us over,” Giuliani claimed. “This is not, ‘they want to be just another religion’; they want to dominate us. Mamdani is a clear supporter of that.”
At a City Hall news conference on Tuesday, Mamdani accused former city leaders of lying to New Yorkers about the air quality around Ground Zero after the attacks, The New York Times reported.
“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said, adding that more people have died from related health issues than they did in the 2001 attack.