AOC, Mamdani interaction caught on cam at 9/11 memorial sparks online fury

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were lambasted Friday for appearing to share a moment of levity at the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan during the solemn reading-of-the-names of victims.

Mamdani was already facing criticism from some 9/11 victims’ families over his attendance when a television feed showing the reading of victims’ names cut from a young man sobbing at the memorial to the mayor and congresswoman appearing to grin and laugh as they spoke, though their conversation was inaudible.

"Disgraceful," said Steve Guest, a former top staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. "AOC and Mamdani look happy."

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"They always show us who they really are," another critic on X said.

Others critics were more direct. 

"Why the f--- are these two laughing?" Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked. 

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However, a top member of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's entourage claimed that the video was taken out of context.

"The videos of [them] laughing are not true. I was standing next to them the whole time," tweeted Michael Ragusa, reportedly head of Giuliani's security as of 2025, according to WPIX-11.

"The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats."

The Pittsburgh Republican Committee suggested on X that the sight was one of the reasons 9/11 victims families didn’t want the mayor there, while former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt also sounded off.

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"While normal Americans cry, commie Mamdani and AOC laugh it up at the 9/11 memorial in New York," Pratt said.

"They hate you. They hate your country. They enjoy your misery. We cannot allow these people to have power."

A New York City lawmaker added that she was outraged to see Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez acting that way.

"After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep," said Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, R-Brighton Beach. "This is NYC’s Mayor."

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Richard Sementa, better known as "Mr. Producer" for Mark Levin’s national radio show, tweeted, "Un-freaking believable."

Juanita Broaddrick called Mamdani and AOC "two disgusting degenerates" on X.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who continues to criticize democratic socialists and opponents of Israel, called the mayor "Jihad Mamdani" and said he and the congresswoman should not be anywhere near Ground Zero.

"They do not mourn this country, they mock it," he tweeted. "Have some damn respect."

"As the names of Americans murdered on September 11th are read aloud at Ground Zero, AOC and Mamdani are laughing and smiling together," said Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas.

"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," said Hunt.

Separately, Mamdani was seen at other points standing somberly between New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York first gentleman William Hochul Jr.

But critics continued pointing out what one called the "jarring split-screen" of the mayor joking around with Ocasio-Cortez a split-second after the mourner was seen sobbing over the shadow "fountain" at the footprint of the Twin Towers.

"What exactly is funny?" former Trump White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson asked.

Former NYPD cop and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro tweeted what he envisioned the two discussing.

"Zo[hran]: You’re not buying into this ‘never again’ bull--- are you? AOC: ‘No, not me,’ Hilarity ensues."

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It was not immediately clear what the two politicians were chatting about at that moment.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.