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🇦🇹 Austria /Elections & Politics

New York mayor sparks outrage ahead of 9/11 anniversary

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces criticism over social media posts in which he referred to 9/11 victims and people who suffered in subsequent wars without explicitly mentioning terrorism.
  • Victims’ families and politicians from both parties have urged Mamdani not to attend the Ground Zero ceremonies, but he confirmed that he would participate.
  • The dispute has turned the 25th anniversary of the attacks into a political issue ahead of November’s congressional elections.

Zohran Mamdani’s first 9/11 anniversary as New York mayor has become a flashpoint before the ceremony even begins. Victims’ families and senior politicians are demanding that he stay away from Ground Zero because of social media posts he wrote between 2019 and 2024.

In posts that were nearly identical, Mamdani referred to “our neighbors who died that day” and to “the millions who suffered in the wars that followed.” He said remembering them should drive people to work toward a better world. He has confirmed that he will attend the ceremony despite the backlash.

No mention of murder or terrorism or who was responsible for the attacks.

· Bill AckmanAckman criticized Mamdani’s earlier anniversary posts for not explicitly referring to terrorism or those responsible.

Criticism of the 34-year-old mayor intensified because he is a practicing Muslim and will take part in the memorial for the first time as the leader of a city where nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. Observers had already criticized his earlier failure to describe the event as a terrorist attack and his decision to mention the 9/11 victims alongside those killed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He seems to imply that the victims died of natural causes.

· Bill AckmanAckman argued that Mamdani’s wording minimized the nature of the 9/11 deaths.

Billionaire Bill Ackman and Republican senators John Kennedy and John Thune called the statements disgraceful. “No mention of murder or terrorism or who was responsible for the attacks,” Ackman wrote on X. “He seems to imply that the victims died of natural causes.” Kennedy and Thune joined hundreds of relatives in signing a petition asking Mamdani to stay away. Giovanni Galante, whose wife died on Sept. 11, 2001, said, “We feel it would be disrespectful if Mamdani comes.”

About 100,000 people had signed the petition, including Democrats such as Michael LaRosa, a former adviser to Joe Biden and spokesman for Jill Biden. The dispute has unfolded two months before congressional elections, with Republicans accusing Mamdani and New York Governor Kathy Hochul of obstructing federal immigration enforcement and protecting potential terrorists. Democrats, meanwhile, accuse Donald Trump of staying away from the New York ceremonies because of his ego. The supplied article ends during that dispute.

We feel it would be disrespectful if Mamdani comes.

· Giovanni GalanteGalante, whose wife died in the attacks, explained his opposition to Mamdani attending the memorial.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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