New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., faced criticism Friday after video from the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan appeared to show the two smiling and laughing during the solemn reading of victims’ names.

Mamdani had already drawn opposition from some 9/11 victims’ families over his decision to attend the ceremony. During a television broadcast of the names being read, the footage shifted from a young man crying at the memorial to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez appearing to smile and laugh while speaking to one another. Their conversation could not be heard.

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

The footage quickly circulated online, prompting additional criticism from commentators who questioned the appearance of the interaction.

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

Some commentators expressed their objections more bluntly.

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

The criticism came as Mamdani was attending the annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony despite a petition from relatives of victims that had gathered approximately 110,000 signatures urging him not to attend.

However, Michael Ragusa, who was described as a former member of ex-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s security detail, disputed the interpretation of the footage and said the clip did not accurately portray what was happening.

“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 referenced the incident while discussing criticism from 9/11 victims’ families regarding Mamdani’s attendance. Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt also commented on the footage.

“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.”

New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, R-Brighton Beach, also criticized the appearance of the interaction, saying she was angered by what she saw.

“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.”

Richard Sementa, known as “Mr. Producer” from Mark Levin’s national radio program, reacted to the footage by tweeting, “Un-freaking believable.”

Juanita Broaddrick referred to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez as “two disgusting degenerates” in a post on X.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who has continued to criticize democratic socialists and opponents of Israel, referred to the mayor as “Jihad Mamdani” and argued that neither Mamdani nor Ocasio-Cortez should have been at Ground Zero.

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

Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, also criticized the apparent interaction, emphasizing the solemn nature of the ceremony.

“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.

Mamdani was also seen at other points during the ceremony standing solemnly between New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York First Gentleman William Hochul Jr.

Critics nevertheless continued to focus on what one described as a “jarring split-screen” showing Mamdani appearing to joke with Ocasio-Cortez shortly after the broadcast showed a mourner crying near the reflecting pool marking the former Twin Towers.

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

Former NYPD officer and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro offered his own imagined version of what the two politicians might have been discussing.

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

It remained unclear what Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez were actually discussing at the moment captured on camera. The available footage did not establish what prompted their expressions or conversation.