Rudy Giuliani's Unexpected Handshake with Zohran Mamdani: What Changed?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani genially shook hands at Ground Zero ahead of the 9/11 25th anniversary remembrance ceremony Friday.
The cordial greeting comes just days after Giuliani — who led the Big Apple during Sept. 11, 2001 — called on Mamdani to skip memorial services marking 25 years since the terror attacks.
Giuliani, 82, claimed Sunday that Mamdani “doesn’t agree that September 11 was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America” before launching on an anti-Muslim conspiracy-laced rant.
“No question,” he said during an interview with Newsmax, contending that the notion of Mamdani attending the memorials “offends me.
“The reality is this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically.”
But Giuliani’s vehemence apparently dissolved when face-to-face with Mamdani, who has spent days conducting 9/11 tributes — including releasing 170,000 long-hidden documents on air quality risks after the attacks.
Mamdani first responded with a statement reaffirming that he’d stand alongside the families, survivors and first responders impacted by the “horrific terror attack.”
When asked directly Tuesday about Giuliani’s call for him to skip the memorial ceremonies, the mayor said day wasn’t about him.
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“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,” he said.
The brief exchange between Giuliani and Mamdani wasn’t the only interaction between dignitaries during the memorial.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke with Mamdani for a very long time, doing most of the talking.
— Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts
