Nydia Velázquez

The criticism comes days before New York marks the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11. Blakeman, the Republican nominee challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November, has made Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s presence at Friday’s Ground Zero ceremony an issue in the governor’s race, calling for attendees to peacefully turn their backs on the mayor.

City & State first reported Wednesday that Blakeman filmed an endorsement for Joel Anabilah-Azumah, the Republican and Conservative candidate challenging Democratic Rep. Yvette Clarke in Brooklyn.

Anabilah-Azumah wrote on X in 2024 that “9/11 was an inside job.”

“You don’t have to believe it, but that is what happened, and history is pretty clear on that,” he wrote.

In the endorsement video reviewed by amNewYork, Blakeman said Anabilah-Azumah would make “a great member of Congress” and added, “We need fighters like that in Congress.”

Velázquez said she had spent more than two decades fighting for 9/11 victims and their families to get the care they need.

“I never thought I’d see someone like Bruce Blakeman running for governor while associating with 9/11 conspiracy theorists,” she said. “These were no casual meet-and-greets: Blakeman filmed campaign endorsements and videos with these extremists. New Yorkers deserve better than this.”

Nadler, who represented Ground Zero in Congress, called it “downright appalling” that Blakeman would “campaign with, and seek endorsements from” people who have promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Blakeman’s campaign had not responded to amNewYork’s requests for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.

Other controversies surrounding Blakeman campaign

The Blakeman campaign had faced questions involving Marcus C. Williams, chair of the Rochester City Republican Committee, before the latest endorsement came to light.

The Judge Street Journal reported in May that Blakeman’s running mate, Todd Hood, had interviewed Williams and detailed several of Williams’ past posts, including one in which he shared a video containing conspiracy claims about 9/11 and wrote that although he did not agree with everything in it, “99% of this here is on point.”

The outlet reported again in August that Blakeman himself had appeared in a campaign video with Williams. In the video, reviewed by amNewYork, Blakeman told him, “We’re gonna win because of people like you, Marcus, and the Rochester City Republicans.”

Politico subsequently reported on the interaction and obtained responses from Williams and the Blakeman campaign. Williams said his “99%” wording had been “imprecise” and that he rejected the video’s conspiracy claims about who planned or carried out the attacks. Blakeman’s campaign called Democratic criticism of the episode a “guilt-by-association” attack.

Blakeman has publicly amplified support from Cafecito Break, a Brooklyn-based media and podcast outlet that has previously promoted Richard Gage, a proponent of the theory that the World Trade Center towers were brought down by controlled demolition.

On Aug. 25, Blakeman quote-posted Cafecito Break’s support for his candidacy, writing that “people of all political parties and walks of life are voting for me in November” and directing followers to his campaign’s coalition page.

Cafecito Break promoted a December 2023 interview with Gage under the title “Make The Truth About 9/11 Mainstream,” describing him as an “Architect for Truth.”

Gage continues to promote the controlled-demolition theory, including in an Aug. 14 post claiming flashes visible in footage of the collapse were evidence of explosions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology found no corroborating evidence that explosives brought down the towers.

Blakeman’s nephew, New York state court officer Thomas Jurgens, was killed while responding at the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

He is among several Republicans and some relatives of 9/11 victims who have said Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, should stay away from Friday’s ceremony. The effort to exclude Mamdani has drawn pushback from Democrats and other 9/11 families, while some of the rhetoric surrounding his attendance has been explicitly anti-Muslim.