New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during an unveiling ceremony for a new 9/11 Memorial Wall at One Police Plaza on Sept. 9, 2026, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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Outspoken liberal actor Robert De Niro agreed with some of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s critics that his comments on law enforcement were “ridiculous,” but still argued he should attend Friday’s 9/11 memorial.
Political rancor has threatened to cast a long shadow over this year’s Sept. 11 remembrance events, marking 25 years since the tragedy that rocked the United States. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s past rhetoric and links to terror sympathizers are spurring intense backlash ahead of the city’s events memorializing the World Trade Center attacks, with Republicans and people whose lives were changed by the attacks demanding he not attend.
The Hollywood Reporter noted the controversy when it spoke to De Niro in an interview published Thursday, asking, “Do you think he should be there?”
“I don’t see why he shouldn’t come,” De Niro said. “He’s the mayor. I haven’t heard him say or do anything yet that would disqualify him from being there. Maybe I’m naive, but you have to give the guy a chance. He’s not a part of what happened.”
MAMDANI HEADS TO 9/11 MEMORIAL DESPITE 110,000-SIGNATURE PUSH FROM VICTIMS’ FAMILIES TO STAY AWAY
Robert De Niro speaks onstage during the 39th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on March 3, 2026, in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Tibet House US)
One of the past comments Mamdani has been grilled about repeatedly is his criticism of the NYPD amid the George Floyd riots of 2020. Mamdani called to “defund the police” in 2020 and labeled the NYPD “racist, anti-queer, and a major threat to public safety.”
When De Niro was asked further about whether he could understand why some families would find it problematic, he paused for a moment and answered, “I understand their pain, but I still think he should be there.”
“I think this stems from tension he’s had with the fire department and the comments about defund the police, which I don’t think he really meant,” the interviewer added. “Well he did say it. And, of course, it’s ridiculous,” De Niro said. “You can’t defund the police. It’s not going to happen. But I still think he should be at the memorial.”
He went on to suggest Mamdani could use the opportunity “as a bridge” to unite people.
When asked about President Donald Trump, however, De Niro offered a far sharper reply, saying, “We have to stop him. It’s insane. We have to send people to voting booths and make sure they can go in. Just watch to keep them safe. It’s crazy we’re here, but this is where we are. We have to protect our elections.”
Entertainment commentator Christian Toto responded to the actor’s interview.
“The Hollywood Reporter eggs on Robert De Niro, sans fact checking, because it agrees with most of what he says. The outlet understands the actor’s lack of information on key political subjects, too, but it cheers him on because he’s anti-Trump and anti-GOP,” Toto told Digital.
“Meanwhile, the actor hasn’t a clue about the mayor’s past comments, his toxic associations or why his ‘defund the police’ beliefs are so damaging. He’s a Useful Idiot for the Left, and The Hollywood Reporter is all too happy to magnify his idiocy,” he added.
9/11 FAMILIES PUSH TO BAN MAMDANI FROM 25TH ANNIVERSARY REMEMBRANCE OVER ‘HOSTILE’ RECORD
New York First Gentleman William Hochul Jr., left; New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, center, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, right. (Hiroko Masuike/Getty Images)
An online petition led by family members of people killed on Sept. 11 — signed by over 100,000 people — has called on Mamdani to skip the memorial.
“Mr. Mamdani has praised Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who has been linked to radical Islam, was named as an alleged co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and served as a character witness for the ‘Blind Sheikh,’ who was convicted in 1995 of plotting terror attacks against the United States,” the petition said.
“Mr. Mamdani has endorsed candidates such as Aber Kawas, who described 9/11 as an attack ‘a couple of people did in the context of U.S. capitalism, racism, White supremacy, and Islamophobia,’ and who also expressed sympathy for Ahmed Ferhani, who pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a Manhattan synagogue,” it added.
Mamdani and other socialist candidates’ association with far-left activist Hasan Piker has also gotten intense scrutiny over Piker’s past comments that the United States “deserved” the attacks, remarks he promptly walked back at the time but continue to haunt him and his political circle. Mamdani has also condemned the comment.
Mamdani has faced backlash for giving a ceremonial pen from a 9/11 remembrance ceremony to a top aide who once represented a convicted al Qaeda member.
Mamdani had handed the pen to his chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem. Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, who pleaded guilty to war crime charges tied to al Qaeda plots against commercial ships and was the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, killing 184.
Rafael Mangual, the head of research for the Manhattan Institute’s Policing & Public Safety Initiative, argued that De Niro and the interviewer sorely missed the mark in recalling Mamdani’s record.
“I’m not sure I share Mr. DeNiro’s dismissal of calls for Mayor Mamdani to keep away from the official memorial ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center on Friday,” he said. “Nor do I think the mayor’s past expressions of vitriol for the NYPD — whose members bravely ran to the assistance of their fellow Americans that tragic morning 25 years ago — are the only justifications for the anger of the families that have expressed their preference for the mayor not to attend Friday’s ceremony.”
“As a rapper, Mamdani praised the Holy Land Five — a group convicted of providing material support to Hamas, an Islamist terrorist organization,” Mangual continued. “On the mayoral campaign trail, Mamdani posed for a photo op with Siraj Wahaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing who also testified as a character witness on behalf of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who had lectured at Wahaj’s mosque prior to being convicted of several terrorism charges in the mid-1990s.”
“During his campaign, he also palled around with Hasan Piker, who stated that America deserved 9/11 and praised the mujahideen for shooting and wounding then-Navy SEAL and current Congressman Dan Crenshaw,” he added. “And as mayor, Mamdani hired as his chief legal counsel Ramzi Kassem, who volunteered to represent pro bono a Guantanamo Bay detainee and convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed al-Darbi. When coupled with his vitriolic criticisms of the very institutions tasked with keeping us safe from terrorist threats, the wishes of the families De Niro was asked about become much harder to ignore.”
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announce a new memorial honoring victims of 9/11 inside 1 Police Plaza, New York, NY on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Cristina Matuozzi/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect)
Mary Marslender, a former Trump appointee and senior advisor to the U.S. Senate and now a Republican consultant, argued that Mamdani cannot outrun his past call to defund the police so easily.
“Mamdani has spent years portraying New York’s brave first responders as the problem, and Robert De Niro knows that. Mamdani ran for mayor on a platform of defunding the police, only walking back his stance for political gain — not out of genuine conviction,” she said.
“He has also refused to distance himself from extremist voices who blame America for 9/11 and declined to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada,’ claiming he won’t police language,” Marslender added. “Robert De Niro’s defense of Mamdani’s views reflects a troubling disregard for the values that unite Americans.”
Former RNC National Spokesperson Elizabeth Pipko argued that De Niro has a long pattern of clumsy political commentary.
“Robert De Niro is again showing his privilege and ignorance,” she said. “He has decided because he aligns politically with Mamdani, he will defend him without knowing the facts. Similarly, he will attack Trump, even when discussing 9/11, because he dislikes him, again without knowing any facts.”
“Mamdani has said horrific things about the NYPD and those who protect our great country. Yes, but unfortunately, he has also praised a man that was named by federal prosecutors as a co-conspirator in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case,” Marslender continued. “He campaigns with Hasan Piker, who has a framed photo of the Twin Towers burning standing on his desk. He refuses to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada.’ Ironically, that phrase is exactly what 9/11 was about.”
“Just once, I’d like to see De Niro confronted with these facts and the sad reality of his own ignorance,” she said. “I’d be curious what his excuses would be then.”
Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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’ Elizabeth Elkind, Amanda Macias and Matthew Donnell contributed to this report.
