Giuliani gives his own account of the Mamdani handshake, offers praise
Rudy GiulianiFormer Mayor of New York City
Rudy Giuliani gave his own account of his September 11 handshake with Zohran Mamdani, saying he told Mamdani "I pray for you" and received a "thank you" in response, and said he commends Mamdani for shaking his hand.
“So we shook hands and I said to him, 'I pray for you,' and he said 'thank you' ... I commend him also for shaking hands with me.”
Interview
Where this statement fits
Should Zohran Mamdani attend New York City’s 9/11 memorial?
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Gov. George Pataki, and some relatives of September 11 victims said Mayor Zohran Mamdani should not attend the 2026 commemoration, citing concerns about his rhetoric and associations. Mamdani said he would attend to honor victims, families, survivors, and first responders. Other elected officials and September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows said excluding the sitting mayor would politicize a ceremony meant for collective remembrance. The dispute is over the civic meaning and appropriateness of attendance, not over whether Mamdani has endorsed the September 11 attacks. Mamdani attended the 25th-anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero on September 11, 2026, shaking hands with Giuliani beforehand, and no protest took place. The argument over whether he should have been there continued after the ceremony, and the case remains open to record it.
Source and context
Interview
About this source
New York Post report (also syndicated via The Independent/AOL) on Rudy Giuliani's own account of his September 11 handshake exchange with Zohran Mamdani.
Before the quotation
Speaking in a livestream with former chief of staff Tony Carbonetti and separately to the New York Post.
After the quotation
Giuliani added that either of them could have "created a distraction" by refusing the handshake.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Giuliani both praises Mamdani for shaking his hand and offers his own account of the exchange, a mixed position that neither fully condemns nor endorses Mamdani's memorial attendance, but adds his own first-person account to a dispute previously documented only from Mamdani's side.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Zohran Mamdani
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The Dispute Index. "Giuliani gives his own account of the Mamdani handshake, offers praise". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-17. https://disputeindex.com/events/807-rudy-giuliani-gave-his-own-account-of-his