Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he walked out of the 9/11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero on Monday due to comments that Vice President Kamala Harris made in 2022.
Giuliani, Harris, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and other political leaders, along with the families of the victims, were in attendance at the event marking the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attack. As part of tradition, the ceremony focused on the reading of the names of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
In an interview with conservative political commentator Benny Johnson later that day, Giuliani, who was mayor on 9/11, said he couldn't stay through the ceremony due to his feelings towards the current leadership in the United States.
One of the main issues Giuliani cited was Harris equating the events of 9/11 with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, during a speech marking the first anniversary of the uprising.
"Certain dates echo throughout history including dates that instantly remind all who have lived through them. Where they were and what they were doing when our democracy came under assault. Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars but a place in our collective memory. December 7, 1941. September 11, 2001, and January 6, 2021," Harris said in the speech.
"This is the year where I couldn't really stay. I almost felt like I wasn't being true to the memory of the people who died on that day," Giuliani told Johnson.
Giuliani, who was recently indicted alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 other co-defendants in Georgia on charges related to alleged efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss in the state, said later in the interview: "There is something seriously wrong with [Harris]...To try to compare January 6 to September 11—how do you even seriously do that? Three thousand people just about died on September 11."
Giuliani faced previous backlash for tweeting a video depicting riot police defending themselves against anti-police demonstrators on September 11, 2019.
"I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't take standing there with them and all the terrible thoughts going through my mind about how they have double-crossed not only the people that gave up their lives that day, but all the people since then that have been fighting terrorism for us," Giuliani told Johnson.
Ground Zero has often been off-limits for politics on the anniversary of 9/11 as Republicans and Democrats have been standing side-by-side for the reading of the victims' names for many years. Some users on X, formerly Twitter, called out Giuliani on Twitter for bringing up his personal feelings about the Biden administration on September 11.
"Giuliani failed to show any respect or humility on this solemn day when we should come together, not apart," one person wrote.
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Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more
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