The New York Times published two articles this week claiming that Muslims — not the 2,977 innocent people murdered by Islamic terrorists — are the true victims of 9/11.
Twenty-five years after the deadliest terror attack on American soil, the Times ran pieces framing New York’s first Muslim mayor and the broader Muslim community as victims of “Islamophobia” rather than honoring those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. The editorial choice to center these narratives on the 25th anniversary of the attacks has sparked widespread criticism from family members of victims, first responders, and commentators who argue the Times has lost sight of who actually suffered that day.
One article by Maya King and Jeffrey C. Mays focuses on Mayor Zohran Mamdani, describing how he “must speak about Sept. 11 as the city’s top elected official, but also as a member of a religious group that has faced hostility and suspicion since the attacks.” The piece frames Mamdani’s position as uniquely difficult, emphasizing the challenges he faces rather than the responsibilities he holds to honor the victims of the terrorist attack that devastated his city.
“There’s a right-wing angst to bring back that level of Islamophobia against prominent Muslims in political life or even in regular daily life.”
That quote comes from Husein Yatabarry, executive director of the Muslim Community Network, whom the Times featured prominently. The article presents concerns about Mamdani’s associations and statements as merely partisan attacks rather than legitimate questions about his judgment and fitness for office.
But the Times conveniently ignored why New Yorkers might question Mamdani’s role at 9/11 memorial services. The omissions in the Times coverage are particularly glaring given the public record of Mamdani’s own statements and associations.
Mamdani publicly praised Imam Siraj Wahhaj as “one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders.” Wahhaj testified as a character witness for Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Wahhaj also fundraised for El Sayyid Nosair, convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with that attack. These are not minor associations or ancient history — they directly relate to terrorist attacks on the very site Mamdani is now expected to commemorate as mayor.
Mamdani has been photographed at an Eid dinner with leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who infamously said “America deserved 9/11.” The mayor has not publicly addressed or denounced this statement.
And Mamdani’s father, Mahmood Mamdani, wrote in his 2004 book that suicide bombers should be understood “as a category of soldier” rather than stigmatized as barbaric. This was written just three years after the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
“Suicide bombing needs to be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism,” the elder Mamdani wrote. The Times article never mentions this intellectual framework that may have influenced the current mayor’s worldview.
The Times ran a second piece titled “After 9/11, Islamaphobia Shaped a Generation of Muslim New Yorkers.” The decision to run this as a primary 9/11 anniversary story represents an editorial choice that prioritizes one narrative over the actual victims and their families.
That article opens with complaints about Muslims facing dirty looks and undercover police monitoring. It never once mentions the 2,977 people murdered that day. The counterterrorism measures referenced in the article were implemented precisely because Islamic terrorists had just carried out the deadliest attack on American soil, yet this context is completely absent from the Times’ framing.
No testimony from families who lost parents, spouses, or siblings. No mention of the firefighters and police officers who ran into burning buildings and never came back out. The 343 firefighters who died, the 71 law enforcement officers killed, and the ordinary Americans who perished are entirely absent from the narrative.
Instead, the article claims “many Muslim American communities” were left “scarred” by 9/11 — as if they were the primary victims. This framing equates the experience of facing increased scrutiny with the experience of losing loved ones in a terrorist attack, a comparison many readers have found deeply offensive.
September 11 is the anniversary of 2,977 innocent people murdered by 19 Islamic terrorists and countless families forced to live with that loss forever. These families continue to grieve a quarter-century later, many having lost multiple family members or watched loved ones suffer from illnesses caused by the toxic debris at Ground Zero.
Those murdered innocents and their families — not Mayor Mamdani and the Muslims championed by the Times — are the true victims of 9/11.
The New York Times on 9/11. pic.twitter.com/kTeQMPmqtS
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 11, 2026
Zohran Mamdani’s father literally wrote a book justifying suicide bombers and terrorism.
It still feels hard to believe that the city that experienced 9/11, the biggest Islamic terrorist attack in history, has a mayor who was raised with these ideas. pic.twitter.com/RwjdyYui1X
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) September 11, 2026
