Video: AOC and Mamdani Seen Laughing During 9/11 Memorial Name Reading at Ground Zero
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were seen sharing a brief laugh at Ground Zero on Friday while the names of 9/11 victims were being read during the 25th anniversary commemoration.
Video from the ceremony shows the two speaking to one another and smiling before briefly laughing as victims’ relatives continued the traditional reading of nearly 3,000 names.
The footage quickly circulated online and drew criticism because of the solemn nature of the annual September 11 ceremony.
Context of the Ground Zero ceremony
The annual commemoration began with a moment of silence marking the time the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center, followed by hours of victims’ names being read aloud by family members.
Mamdani attended the ceremony alongside national and New York political leaders and was expected to remain until the reading of the names was completed.
There is no evidence from the brief video itself showing what Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani were discussing or indicating that their laughter was directed at the victims or the name-reading.
The 2026 ceremony marked 25 years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
