Rudy Giuliani, New York City's mayor at the time of the Sept. 11 attack, said there were "pockets of celebration" in the boroughs following the terror attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers more than 14 years ago.
Giuliani said that there could have been as many as 40 people celebrating after the attacks during an interview with CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday, but added that he thought presidential candidate Donald Trump was "exaggerating" when he said he saw thousands of Muslims cheering after the attacks.
“We did have some celebrating,” Giuliani said on CNN. “That is true. We had pockets of celebration, some in Queens, some in Brooklyn.”
Giuliani had previously told interviewers at MSNBC that he had heard reports of celebrations, but didn't personally see anyone cheering on the attacks.
During Tuesday's interview, he cited a specific incident where a family that was attacked after reportedly celebrating the attack.
“We had one situation in which a candy store owned by a Muslim family was celebrating that day, right near a housing development, and the kids in the housing development came in and beat them up,” he said. “Both facts were corroborated to be true.”
The comments come as controversy swirls around Trump's comments last month, when he said at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama, he saw "thousands and thousands people" cheering in Jersey City "as that building was coming down."
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Reporters and politicians have taken umbrage with the claim, with the fact-checking website Politifact rated the statement a "pants on fire" falsehood.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, the Republican people declined to take back the statement.
"I saw it. So many people saw it ... So, why would I take it back? I'm not going to take it back," he said.
Asked where he witnessed this, Trump replied, "I saw it on television. I saw clips."
