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President Donald Trump slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for appearing to laugh during the solemn reading of victims’ names at the 9/11 Memorial, calling their behavior “terrible” and “inappropriate.”
“I think it’s terrible,” Trump said when asked about the video of the two Democrats. “It’s not a place to be laughing, especially in that case.”
“I thought it was terrible,” he continued. “The fact that they were laughing together at a very important part of the ceremony was inappropriate.”
The president’s condemnation came after video of Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani sharing what appeared to be a lighthearted exchange at Ground Zero sparked widespread criticism online.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., left, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right, appear to laugh during the reading-of-names at the 9/11 Memorial. (Screenshot/Fox News)
A television feed from Friday’s ceremony showed a young man overcome with emotion near the memorial before cutting to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez smiling and appearing to laugh as they spoke. Their conversation could not be heard.
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Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a Democrat from New York, center, and Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, center right, during the 25th anniversary commemoration ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. ( )
The moment unfolded as mourners read aloud the names of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing during ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 2001 attacks.
The video quickly spread across social media, where critics accused the pair of showing disrespect on one of the nation’s most solemn days.
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Colorful flowers are left by mourners at the 911 Memorial, offering gifts to remember those killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City. (Getty)
“As the names of Americans murdered on September 11th are read aloud at Ground Zero, AOC and Mamdani are laughing and smiling together,” Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, wrote on X.
“There is a time and a place for politics. This isn’t it. Ground Zero is sacred ground,” Hunt added. “September 11 is not a photo op, it is not a networking event.”
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Meghan McCain also reacted to the video, asking on X, “Why the f— are these two laughing?”
New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican, similarly ripped the moment.
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“After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep,” Vernikov wrote. “This is NYC’s Mayor.”
Mamdani had already faced opposition from some victims’ families ahead of the ceremony. A petition urging him to stay away from Ground Zero gathered more than 110,000 signatures, though Mamdani attended and remained for the ceremony.
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Flowers and American flags rest beside inscribed names at a reflecting pool at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Sept. 11, 2026, in New York City, as the nation commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Jeenah Moon – Pool/Getty Images)
However, Michael Ragusa, who has served as a member of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s entourage, disputed claims that Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez were joking about the ceremony.
“The videos of [them] laughing are not true. I was standing next to them the whole time,” Ragusa wrote on X.
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“The camera just caught her greeting him hello,” he added. “Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats.”
Mamdani was seen standing somberly at other points during the ceremony. It remains unclear what he and Ocasio-Cortez discussed during the brief exchange.
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Fox News Digital previously reached out to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.