New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew sharp criticism Friday after cameras showed the two smiling and laughing together during the solemn reading of victims’ names at the Ground Zero ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The brief exchange occurred during a ceremony in which relatives spent hours reading the names of the 2,977 people killed on September 11, as well as the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

A live broadcast of the ceremony captured Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez appearing cheerful during their interaction, while other portions of the coverage showed grieving relatives and attendees overcome with emotion as the names of those murdered in the attacks were read from the podium.

The images quickly circulated online, prompting criticism from political figures and commentators who questioned the appropriateness of the exchange during such a solemn event.

“Why …. are these two laughing?!?” Meghan McCain, former “The View” host and daughter of late GOP Sen. John McCain, wrote on X.

“How … do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud? Why would you do so?” wondered Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov also condemned the scene, tying it to the controversy that had preceded Mamdani’s attendance at the ceremony.

“After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep. This is NYC’s Mayor,” scolded Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.

According to an unnamed source cited by the New York Post, the exchange occurred after Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Chuck Schumer had departed during the ceremony, leaving Mamdani standing without many of the other prominent officials who had been nearby.

“Nobody wanted to be by him,” the source said. “It was awkward.”

Members of the mayor’s administration and Ocasio-Cortez subsequently took seats around Mamdani, according to the account, and it was during that period that the exchange between the mayor and the congresswoman was captured on camera.

The same source, however, offered a more favorable assessment of Mamdani’s conduct during the ceremony overall, saying the mayor remained respectful for the rest of the event, stayed longer than many other elected officials and remained through the conclusion, speaking afterward with relatives of 9/11 victims.

“He doesn’t help his case,” the insider quipped. “This guy doesn’t distance himself from people who say America deserved to be attacked. And where the f—k was his wife? She misses America 250, now this.”

Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, has generally maintained a low profile during her husband’s mayoralty, describing herself as a private person, although she has appeared at some major public events, including the Knicks’ ticker-tape parade and New York Fashion Week.

Mamdani’s attendance at Friday’s commemoration had itself become the subject of controversy before the ceremony. Some relatives of 9/11 victims and Republican political figures had urged him not to attend. Mamdani rejected those calls and said he wanted the anniversary to remain focused on the victims, their families and first responders. The mayor has called the September 11 attacks a “horrific act of terror.”

There was also pushback against the interpretation of the video. Michael Ragusa, who served as head of security for Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said he was standing near Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez and maintained that the widely circulated footage did not provide the full context of what happened.

“The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats,” he wrote on X.

“And for the record I am a life long republican who has been very critical of these two,” he added.

Earlier in the ceremony, Mamdani was seen exchanging an awkward handshake with Giuliani, who was mayor of New York City at the time of the September 11 attacks and had publicly argued before Friday’s commemoration that Mamdani should not attend.

One source cited by the Post claimed that Giuliani nevertheless gave Mamdani a warmer reception than some of the other elected officials at the ceremony.

“None of the elected wanted to be near him,” they said.

The previous evening, Mamdani participated in the final portion of a Manhattan interfaith memorial walk commemorating 9/11. The walk included stops at Jewish, Christian and Muslim houses of worship, although the mayor joined at its final stop, the Islamic Center of New York City. There, Mamdani delivered remarks remembering those killed in the attacks and praising first responders and religious leaders who assisted New Yorkers in the aftermath.

Mamdani had also faced criticism during his mayoral campaign over comments he made while discussing the experiences of Muslims in New York following the September 11 attacks.

“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after Sept. 11 because she did not feel safe in her hjiab,” then-candidate Mamdani intoned.