Rudy Giuliani said he told New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that he “pray[s] for you all the time” when the two men shook hands at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Manhattan.
The brief exchange at the Ground Zero memorial came despite an increasingly bitter public dispute between the former mayor and his successor, who attended the ceremony on Friday morning.
Giuliani, 82, said the pair faced one another and exchanged a few words before Mamdani moved on to greet other attendees. According to Giuliani, the mayor replied: “Thank you.”
“We realized that if either one of us turned our backs on the other, that would have been the story,” Giuliani said.
He also praised Mamdani for remaining at the ceremony until its conclusion, saying: “I give him credit for that. The whole event would have been different. It’s about respect for the families, the solemness of the occasion.”
Giuliani said their political differences remained “strong and haven’t changed”, but expressed concern about Mamdani associating with people who, he claimed, said the September 11 attacks were America’s fault.
The encounter took place days after Giuliani said he was offended by the prospect of Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, attending the 25th anniversary memorial service.
Earlier in the week, Giuliani accused Mamdani of disturbing the families and others at the commemoration. He said the mayor “stands in direct support of the movement that killed their children”.
Mamdani responded that memorial services should centre on “the New Yorkers who were killed that day, their families, survivors, the first responders” rather than politicians.
The two men have also clashed over the release of about 170,000 previously unseen records relating to the aftermath of the attacks. Mamdani said the documents appeared to show that Giuliani’s administration knew about the dangers posed by toxic air at the site.
He said people became ill because leaders they trusted had told them it was safe to breathe the air. Giuliani’s spokesperson rejected the suggestion that local officials were responsible for the suffering and illness, saying the terrorists were “100 percent responsible” and accusing Mamdani of trying to score partisan political points.
Giuliani, who became known as “America’s Mayor” for his leadership of New York after the September 11 attacks, was also greeted by Vice President JD Vance as they arrived at the ceremony.
A total of 2,977 people were killed when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft, crashing two into the World Trade Centre, one into the Pentagon and another into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought back.
