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Republican senators are rallying behind the petition from families of 9/11 victims to block New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani from attending the 25th anniversary remembrance ceremony of the attacks at Ground Zero.
Several families of 9/11 victims launched an online petition calling on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to not include Mamdani in the commemorative events honoring those who lost their lives in the terror attacks 25 years ago.
Fox News Digital asked senators on Capitol Hill about the efforts to ban Mamdani from attending the memorial, and whether it would be appropriate for him to show up given claims that the democratic socialist has failed to adequately condemn Islamic extremism.
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“It might be appropriate if he goes while wearing a paper bag over his head,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital.
“I mean I can’t defend anything that guy says or does,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.
The petition cites eight specific concerns about Mamdani, including claims he has never directly condemned the phrase “globalize the intifada,” allegedly associating with extremist and anti-American individuals and claims that his beliefs are shaped by his father, who called for destigmatizing suicide bombers and drew comparisons between the United States and al Qaeda.
“His opinions on America’s place in the world are pretty different than probably most of those families feel,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital.
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The families’ plea also points to claims of Mamdani praising and appointing people linked to radical Islam, his comments blaming the United States for the radicalization of al Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki and his recent endorsement of democratic socialist Darializa Aria Chevalier.
“He’s platformed Islamic extremism, and he openly supports Hamas, as does his wife,” Sheehy claimed. “And Hamas is not just an adjacent organization to all the other Muslim extremists, they’re one of the core members of it.”
Mamdani has taken fire from many GOP lawmakers over his refusal to call for Hamas to lay down its weapons during an interview last year, as well as for other claims of ties to Islamic extremism and alleging the NYC leader of antisemitism.
“Given these concerns, we respectfully ask that the organizers carefully consider whether Mr. Mamdani’s participation would align with the intention of the ceremony and the expectations of the families most directly affected by the tragedy,” the petition states.
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“I think he has said some pretty disgusting things and seems to be on that trend line that he’s going to talk like that more and more,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said. “And so I certainly can understand why some of the families feel that way.”
As of Monday evening, the petition had more than 82,000 signatures in support of the efforts of the families to bar Mamdani from the event.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s a disgrace and an embarrassment to the country, but we’ll see if he shows up, right?” Sheehy said.
After hearing of the petition, Mamdani shared that he still plans to attend this year’s 9/11 commemoration, according to CBS News.
Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
“At the end of the day, those families should have the say who’s going to show up and honor the memory of their own families,” Sheehy said.
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