Giuliani says Mamdani should skip 9/11 ceremony amid attack on his Muslim faith
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said current mayor Zohran Mamdani should not attend the main 9/11 memorial ceremony, criticizing his Muslim faith in a weekend interview. Mamdani has confirmed he will attend Friday's commemorations.
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to appear alongside former mayor Rudy Giuliani at the main September 11 memorial ceremony this Friday, just days after Giuliani disparaged Mamdani's Muslim faith and suggested he should not attend.
Speaking to Newsmax over the weekend, Giuliani, who led the city during the 2001 attacks, said Mamdani's planned presence offended him given the friends he lost and his closeness to victims' families. During the interview, he drew a controversial comparison between Mamdani's faith and the ideology of the 9/11 hijackers who acted under Osama bin Laden's orders, and suggested the mayor supports the idea of Islam becoming a dominant religion.
Mamdani, speaking Monday at a breakfast event in Brooklyn tied to the city's J'ouvert and West Indian Day Parade celebrations, confirmed he will attend the main ceremony along with several other 9/11 events on Friday, standing with victims' families and first responders as he did last year before taking office. He said his focus this week is on the families who lost loved ones 25 years ago and on the first responders who acted that day.
Mamdani's office declined to comment on Giuliani's remarks. The mayor has previously spoken about the wave of Islamophobia that followed the 2001 attacks, which he said became a daily reality for Muslim Americans. Last week he signed an executive order designating September 11 an annual official Day of Remembrance and Service, and created a new task force focused on the city's emergency preparedness.
Other prominent figures, including former governor George Pataki, have also objected to Mamdani's attendance, and an online petition opposing it has gathered nearly 100,000 signatures. Friday's ceremony is expected to draw former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama, along with several former New York mayors. President Donald Trump will not attend the New York event but plans to mark the anniversary at the Pentagon, while Vice-President JD Vance is expected to represent the administration in New York.
