Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani left multiple New Yorkers stunned after the longtime ally of President Donald Trump issued what journalist Andrew Perez called “simply revolting” remarks about Muslims and the 9/11 attacks.
Appearing on Newsmax, Giuliani claimed that he was offended that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, planned to attend the 25th remembrance ceremony of the 9/11 attacks.
“Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming,” Giuliani said of Mamdani. “This is not, ‘They want to be just another religion.’ They want to dominate us. That’s what they’re taught from the day they begin their extremist religious education. Mamdani is a clear… supporter of that.”
Perez, who noted that Mamdani was only 9 years old at the time of the 9/11 attacks, condemned Giuliani as being “long a pathetic Trump toady,” and flagged several responses from prominent New Yorkers.
“He’s lost all credibility,” said Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough president, speaking of Giuliani. “He’s had an incredible fall from grace. He is not the national hero that he may have been in the days following 9/11. And perhaps that’s colored his approach to politics… his resentment.”
Democratic activist and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams issued Giuliani some blunt advice.
“Mayor Giuliani should have shut up a long time ago,” Williams said.
Mamdani has sparked uproar among conservatives for planning to attend the 25th remembrance ceremony for 9/11, though much of that uproar has been exaggerated, including by Bari Weiss’ CBS News, which had to retract what has been called a “brazen lie” regarding the matter.