Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Says It ‘Offends’ Him That Mayor Zohran Mamdani Is Going to 9/11 Ceremony

Rudy Giuliani does not want New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the upcoming 9/11 commemoration ceremonies.

On Sunday, September 6, the former mayor of NYC, 82, appeared on Newsmax, and insisted there was “no question” that Mamdani, 34, should not be at the ceremony, which marks 25 years since the terrorist attack.

“The reality is this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically,” Giuliani, who used anti-Muslim rhetoric and also shared conspiracy theories in the interview, stated.

“Frankly, whatever he’d like to say, he doesn’t agree that September 11th was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America, one that is, in terms of war or effort continuing today, and maybe even worse today,” Giuliani alleged. “Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.”

Giuliani said the terrorists who coordinated 9/11 “weren’t hiding it like Mamdani is trying to hide it,” seemingly suggesting Mamdani has an antipathy to the U.S.

As Globe previously reported, a petition with thousands of signatures has been circulating to keep Mamdani from attending the ceremony.

One of the petitioner’s organizers, Giovanni Galante, told the New York Post in July: “Our objection is based on his public record — his failure to meaningfully acknowledge the horror of that day, and his employment of, support for, or association with individuals who have minimized 9/11, defended terrorists, or even suggested America ‘deserved’ the attacks.”

Despite the backlash, Mamdani previously said he would attend the ceremony.

“I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home,” the politician remarked in July, per CBS News.

NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin called the petition “absolutely inappropriate,” while appearing on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, condemning people “trying to politicize this.”