A brief video showing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez smiling during a 9/11 anniversary ceremony has sparked debate online.
The four-second clip was captured Friday at Ground Zero as victims’ names were being read to mark 25 years since the September 11 attacks.
The video has no audio and shows Ocasio-Cortez greeting Mamdani. Some Republicans accused the Democrats of laughing during the ceremony, while witnesses said the clip was taken out of context.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reposted the video on X, writing: “How the hell do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud?”
Michael Ragusa, who said he stood beside the pair throughout the ceremony, defended them.
“The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats,” Ragusa wrote on X.
Former New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou also called the criticism “ridiculous talking points.”
Niou said Mamdani “stayed for every name and even stayed after to talk to families for 45 minutes.”
She added that Ocasio-Cortez also remained until the end and the interaction “was just when she walked up to him and said hello.”
