Daddy Issues

Earlier this month, New Yorkers gathered at Ground Zero to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Alongside former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, Vice President JD Vance, and Governor Kathy Hochul, stood Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

For better or worse, his presence had become controversial in its own right.

In the runup to the memorial, many of the victims’ families urged organizers to bar Mamdani, citing his perceived apathy toward the attacks. They pointed to a 2023 tweet in which Mamdani invoked “the hundreds of thousands who died in the wars that followed” and “the unknown millions injured & displaced.” His critics found the statement overly evasive, leaving the perpetrators unnamed while rebuking the subsequent War on Terror.