Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Shakes Zohran Mamdani’s Hand at 9/11 Ceremony After Insisting He Shouldn’t Go

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and the city’s current mayor, Zohran Mamdani, appeared to share a civil moment at Ground Zero on Friday, September 11.

In a video obtained by the New York Post, the two politicians could be seen shaking hands and exchanging brief words ahead of the annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the deadly terrorist attacks.

As Globe previously reported, Giuliani, 82, appeared on Newsmax on Sunday, September 6, asserting there was “no question” that Mamdani, 34, should not be at the ceremony, saying, “this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically.”

“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 — who used anti-Muslim rhetoric and shared conspiracy theories in the interview — claimed. “Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.”

On Tuesday, September 8, Mamdani was asked about Giuliani’s remarks, to which he responded, “I think that the focus of memorial services should be on the New Yorkers who were killed that day, their families, the survivors, the first responders – I don’t think it should be on politicians,” per the New York Post.

In August, NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin said it was “absolutely inappropriate” for a petition to be circulating to ban Mamdani from the ceremony while appearing on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show. Menin explained how former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg always kept politics out of the commemorative events.

“I think Mayor Bloomberg made a terrific decision in making sure that there were not political speeches because, again, it shouldn’t be politicized,” she noted. “So, those that are trying to politicize this, what is happening on the 25th anniversary, I think that that is unfortunate.”

Earlier in the day on Friday, Mamdani shared an emotional video message on social media about the terrorist attacks, saying September 11th, 2001 was “the darkest day in our city’s history,” and acknowledging “in the years since, thousands more have died from illness caused by the toxic air they breathed, in the months they spent working on the pile.”