President Trump called the behavior of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani "terrible" after video captured the two Democrats apparently laughing during the solemn reading of victims' names at the 25th anniversary 9/11 ceremony.
A television feed from the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Friday showed Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani smiling and appearing to laugh together while family members read aloud the names of nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The video spread rapidly on social media, drawing condemnation from lawmakers, public figures, and the president himself, Fox News reported.
Trump spoke bluntly when asked about the footage. "I think it's terrible," he said. "It's not a place to be laughing, especially in that case."
"The fact that they were laughing together at a very important part of the ceremony was inappropriate."
The exchange between the two Democrats was inaudible on the feed. Neither Mamdani's office nor Ocasio-Cortez responded to requests for comment.
Mamdani's presence at Ground Zero was already a flashpoint before the cameras caught the moment. A petition gathering more than 110,000 signatures had urged the mayor to skip the ceremony entirely. 9/11 families had publicly demanded he stay away from the 25th anniversary commemoration.
He showed up anyway. And the video that followed gave his critics exactly the image they feared.
The ceremony also honored victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, with their names read alongside those killed on September 11, 2001. At one point, the television feed showed a young man overcome with emotion, then cut to Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani appearing to share a laugh. The juxtaposition fueled the backlash.
Retired Port Authority police officers had earlier pushed to bar Mamdani from attending the Ground Zero ceremony at all, a sign of just how deep the opposition ran among first responders and their families.
Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Texas Republican, posted a sharp rebuke on X. He wrote that while "the names of Americans murdered on September 11th are read aloud at Ground Zero, AOC and Mamdani are laughing and smiling together."
"There is a time and a place for politics. This isn't it. Ground Zero is sacred ground. September 11 is not a photo op, it is not a networking event."
Meghan McCain reacted bluntly on X: "Why the f--- are these two laughing?" New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican, pointed to the families who had begged Mamdani not to attend.
"After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep. This is NYC's Mayor."
The criticism landed on a mayor who was already facing scrutiny over his handling of the ceremony. Mamdani had drawn separate backlash after a ceremony pen went to an ex, al Qaeda defense lawyer, compounding questions about his judgment on matters tied to the September 11 attacks.
Not everyone agreed with the characterization. Michael Ragusa, described as a member of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's entourage, posted on X that the footage lacked context. Ragusa, who called himself a Republican critic of both politicians, said he was standing next to them during the moment in question.
"The videos of [them] laughing are not true. I was standing next to them the whole time. The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats."
Ragusa's account stands alone against the reactions of Trump, Hunt, McCain, and Vernikov, all of whom described what they saw on the feed as inappropriate conduct during a solemn moment. The video itself shows smiles and apparent laughter. What it does not show is what was said.
An insider told the New York Post that Mamdani had been left standing largely alone after Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Chuck Schumer departed mid-ceremony. Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani's commissioners then filled seats around him. The Post also reported that Mamdani stayed until the end of the ceremony and spoke with victims' families.
Former Mayor Giuliani had publicly called on Mamdani to skip the ceremony altogether, and the tense dynamic between the two was visible at the event itself, a separate interaction that drew its own attention.
Fox News Digital previously reached out to both Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez for comment. Neither responded. The silence is notable given the scale of the backlash, from the president, from members of Congress, from local elected officials, and from the families who signed that petition in the first place.
Mamdani was reportedly seen standing somberly at other points during the ceremony. But the moment the cameras caught, smiles and apparent laughter during the reading of the names of the dead, is the one that will define his attendance. Whether it was a greeting, a private joke, or something else entirely, neither he nor Ocasio-Cortez has offered an explanation.
Ground Zero is not a cocktail party. Nearly 3,000 people died there. The families who read those names aloud do so through grief that has not faded in twenty-five years. If two elected officials cannot maintain composure for the length of a memorial, they owe the public more than silence.
