New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing renewed scrutiny over comments he made nearly three years ago about the September 11 terrorist attacks, with critics arguing that his language failed to fully convey the deliberate brutality of the attack and the thousands of lives lost.
The controversy comes as New York prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of September 11, a milestone that will bring survivors, victims’ families, first responders and elected officials together to remember one of the darkest days in American history.
In a 2023 post on X marking the anniversary, Mamdani wrote, “Nearly 3,000 New Yorkers died on 9/11; 22 years later, the death hasn’t stopped.”
“We mourn our neighbors who died that day,” he continued, before broadening his comments to include those who died in the wars that followed, as well as people who were injured and displaced.
While Mamdani’s supporters have defended the remarks as an attempt to acknowledge the enormous human toll of the attacks and their aftermath, critics focused on his use of the word “died.”
For many Americans, particularly those who lost loved ones on September 11, the distinction matters. The nearly 3,000 people killed that day did not simply perish in an unfortunate event. They were murdered in a coordinated terrorist attack carried out by al-Qaeda, whose members hijacked four commercial airplanes and deliberately used them as weapons against the United States.
A total of 2,977 people were killed in the attacks, including civilians, firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and passengers aboard the hijacked aircraft. Thousands more were injured, and countless first responders and others have suffered long-term consequences.
“Correction: 3000 New Yorkers didn’t just ‘die’ but were murdered in a cruel, calculated and heinous manner,” one critic wrote on X, reflecting the anger expressed by others who believe the language used to describe September 11 should leave no ambiguity about who was responsible and what happened.
The controversy has grown beyond a debate over wording. A petition has been launched calling for Mamdani to be barred from attending the city’s 25th-anniversary commemoration at Ground Zero.
Giovanni Galante, one of the petition’s organizers, said the objection is rooted in Mamdani’s broader public record, including concerns about people with whom he has been associated.
“Our objection is based on [Mamdani’s] public record — his failure to meaningfully acknowledge the horror of that day, and his employment of, support for, or association with individuals who have minimized 9/11, defended terrorists, or even suggested America ‘deserved’ the attacks,” Galante told the New York Post. “This day is sacred to us.”
One issue raised by critics involves Mamdani’s previous interactions with internet personality Hasan Piker. Piker faced widespread condemnation after saying in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” Mamdani later described those remarks as “objectionable and reprehensible.”
Still, the association has become part of the larger argument over whether Mamdani should participate in the anniversary ceremony.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, however, rejected efforts to prevent the mayor from attending, calling the campaign to bar him “absolutely inappropriate” during an appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show.
Mamdani himself has made clear that he intends to attend the ceremony.
“I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration,” Mamdani told CBS News New York in July. He added that he would reaffirm that New York and the nation “will never forget” the day.
The upcoming anniversary is likely to keep the issue in the spotlight. For the families of those murdered on September 11, the commemoration is not simply another political event or opportunity for elected officials to appear in public. It is a solemn remembrance of parents, children, spouses, siblings, friends and colleagues whose lives were deliberately taken by terrorists.
That is why critics say the language surrounding September 11 matters. Twenty-five years later, the United States continues to remember not merely that nearly 3,000 people “died,” but that they were targeted and murdered in an act of terrorism that changed New York City, the nation and the world forever.
Whether Mamdani’s decision to attend the ceremony will help demonstrate his commitment to remembering the victims or further inflame his critics remains to be seen. What is certain is that, for those who lived through September 11 and those who lost someone that day, the memory remains deeply personal — and the expectation that its victims be honored without qualification remains as strong as ever.
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& hes attending 9/11 events too
New York voted him in!
Islam was responsible for 911, Mandani is Islamic.
The Islamist Chameleon Mamdani knows fully how deception works for the Islamist Cause!
Taqiyya: Deceiving the infidels for the good of Islam.
The underlying problem out of the gate is how History Illustrates just how brutal Muslims have been in their faith based determination to conquer the whole of humanity as an example the Ottoman Empire; included “much of Southeastern Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th century to the early 20th century, centered in modern-day Turkey. It also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe between the early 16th and early 18th centuries.” Wikipedia
An argument made Raymond Ibrahim in which he has discussed taqiyya; “a concept in Islam that he interprets as a form of deceit employed by Muslims, particularly in the context of jihad and interactions with non-Muslims. He believes that taqiyya signifies a deeper existential conflict between Islam and the West.” Wikipedia
Tracing this issue back there is a factual documentation that speaks directly to how this truly got out of control back in 632 AD with Muhammad.
The following statements are highly accurate and actually proven. “In 632, only months before he died, Muhammad apparently met for the first time with a Christian community as such. An official delegation of Christians, probably led by a bishop, came to Mecca from Najran in Yemen. After engaging the Christians in discussion, the (so called) Prophet is said to have realized that Christian teachings are indeed incompatible with Islam, after which the revelation followed that only Islam is acceptable to God as a religion. The Quran also says very specifically that those who refer to Jesus as God are blasphemers, and that Christians saying that Christ is the son of God is an imitation of Jews, who earlier had said that Ezra is the son of God. According to the Quran Jesus was only a servant; Jesus the son of Mary was no more than an apostle of God. Quranic verses dealing with Jesus’ death have been interpreted differently by commentators, but generally they have been taken to mean that Jesus did not die by crucifixion. For Christians the Quran has thus served as a denial of Jesus’ incarnation and death on the cross and of the reality of the Trinity.” (Oxford University Press)
These points alone put Islam and the Muslims completely at odds with Jesus Christ and all Christians (and America is a nation that was founded by people of the Christian Faith)! Muhammad himself began this conflict and was the spoiler and Heretic directly attacking God’s plan as foretold by all the previous prophets going all the way back to Abraham. Things have been in conflict because of Muhammad ever since and are getting worse, because of this fake religion political ideology started by a false prophet and therefore heretic! So none of this is good for America and American Citizens.
In Summary; Muslims are in complete denial of what Jesus Christ said and who He was which makes them Anti-Christ and supportive of the Devil and all that is unholy. Basically Muhammad started this Blasphemy back in 632 AD and outright declared War on Christendom! There are those of Islam who state it’s an EMPIRE and political ideology which puts it in the category of being a Nation not a Religion! It is not a religion that is backed up with solid historical evidence and prophecy over millennia of time by many prophets other than what Muhammad said, he made it all up, and therefore is considered by many experts to be a heretic!