Headscarf backlash and the 9/11 25th-anniversary commemoration
Two threads converged in the run-up to the Sept. 11, 2026 25th anniversary. First: Hochul spoke Aug. 28 at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York wearing a black headscarf; a clip posted Aug. 30 by the "End Wokeness" X account drew 4M+ views and a national conservative pile-on (Brandon Gill, Benny Johnson, Riley Gaines, Megyn Kelly's show, Daily Wire, Townhall and others), much of it invoking the anniversary. Snopes rated the "wore a hijab" framing a Mixture — the headscarf is authentic but her hair was visible, so it was not a traditional hijab. Second: the Retired Port Authority Police Benevolent Association (president John McDevitt) sent Aug. 14 letters asking Hochul and Mayor Mamdani to stay away from the Ground Zero ceremony, objecting to Hochul lighting One World Trade Center for Muslim American Heritage Month; the letters surfaced Aug. 29. Hochul rejected the demand and plans to attend. Her office says she respects 9/11 victims and their families while rejecting anti-Muslim hatred. Sept. 1 escalation: President Trump posted the photo on Truth Social calling Hochul "the Worst Governor in the Country," saying she wears "the hijab" to win "the Arab Vote," and tying it to congestion pricing ("The whole thing is CRAZY!"). Blakeman posted the photo the same day, calling it "political pandering" that was "especially tone-deaf" before the anniversary; Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick called Blakeman's post an example of leaders "exploiting the 9/11 anniversary to (re)normalize Islamophobia." Hochul's campaign scheduled a Rosh Hashanah food distribution with Jewish city officials on Sept. 2. UPDATE (Sept 2, 2026): Hochul responded on camera for the first time — "I was invited as a guest, and I always wear the appropriate attire, whether I am going to a temple... an Orthodox community or... a catholic church in the Vatican," and of Blakeman: "If he has a problem with that, that says more about him than it does anybody else." To his Newsday remark that a hijab and feminism are incompatible: "I just love it when men lecture women on whether or not they are a feminist." Her office cited the 2022 visit to an attacked Ronkonkoma mosque and Officer Islam's funeral as precedent. Blakeman said his post was not an attack on Muslims and that he visits mosques regularly. CAIR-NY's Afaf Nasher said linking the visit to 9/11 is inappropriate. UPDATE (Sept 2, 2026): Hochul answered Trump directly on X: "I was a guest in a Muslim house of worship and showed respect for the people who welcomed me. That used to be standard in this country before you came along. I'll never apologize for treating people of any faith with dignity, no matter how Islamophobic you and your enablers are." The End Wokeness clip had passed 10M views by Sept. 2. BACKFILL (Aug 31, 2026): before the Sept. 1 post, Blakeman told Newsmax he sided with the retired Port Authority officers and that if Hochul and Mamdani attend Ground Zero anyway, "turn your back on them," likening the ceremony to a wake; he was a Port Authority commissioner on 9/11 and lost his nephew, court officer Thomas Jurgens, in the South Tower. UPDATE (Sept 3, 2026): Hochul called the "Hijab Hochul" attack "reprehensible." Blakeman escalated rather than retreated, invoking his nephew's death and saying Hochul "has aligned yourself with Zohran Mamdani who won't speak against 'Global Intifada' which was the goal of his murderers." The Post noted Blakeman wore a head covering at a Sikh event in 2025. Next flashpoint: the Sept. 11 ceremony itself, where both Hochul and Mamdani plan to attend.
The case on each side
Hochul and her office frame the headscarf as a gesture of respect consistent with past practice (including the July 2025 funeral of slain Muslim NYPD Officer Didarul Islam), say she respects 9/11 victims and their families while rejecting anti-Muslim hatred, and note the Islamic Cultural Center School called the visit an honor. She rejected the stay-away demand and will attend the Ground Zero ceremony as governors have before her.
Critics call the headscarf hypocritical for a self-described feminist and disrespectful days before the 25th anniversary of 9/11; the retired Port Authority officers' association says her attendance at Ground Zero would inflict deep pain on victims' families and objects to using One World Trade Center for a Muslim American Heritage Month observance. Trump and Blakeman call it pandering for Arab and Muslim votes; Blakeman says it is tone-deaf before the 9/11 anniversary. Blakeman has since urged attendees to turn their backs on Hochul and Mamdani at Ground Zero and tied the headscarf to Mamdani's refusal to condemn "Global Intifada," citing his nephew killed on 9/11.