NEW YORK \u2014 Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump on Wednesday morning both arrived here in Lower Manhattan, the site of the worst terrorist attack in American history, each pausing for a moment of solemn commemoration in the midst of a frenetic political season.<\/p>\n
They stood feet away from one another, joined by President Joe Biden and GOP vice-presidential nominee JD Vance, and listened as bagpipes wailed, as moments of silence were held and names of victims were read by family members.<\/p>\n
It was an abrupt shift in tone after an aggressive debate Tuesday night, one that Trump has complained about and one that filled the Harris team with jubilation. Harris and Trump briefly greeted one another \u2014 and Biden and Trump did as well \u2014 before taking their respective spots.<\/p>\n
Harris and Biden are traveling together later Wednesday to Shanksville, Pa., the rural area where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field 23 years ago, and to Arlington, Va., where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019s team made it clear that Wednesday\u2019s events would have no hint of politics as she honors those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks. But Harris, Biden, Trump and Vance all standing together at the New York memorial was a striking tableau in a political cycle in which Harris has \u2014 in both direct and subtle ways \u2014 attempted to reclaim the mantle of patriotism that has been more associated with Trump and Republicans over the past decade.<\/p>\n
A core message in her campaign is that she would put the interests of all Americans above her own, while she paints her opponent as a \u201cself-serving\u201d agent of chaos who would endanger the country\u2019s military and national security. She crisply delivered that case in Tuesday night\u2019s debate, and her campaign is intensely focused on drawing voters\u2019 attention to Trump\u2019s past remarks disparaging members of the military. They also hope voters will revisit Trump\u2019s embrace of conspiracy theories, including his insistence that he won the 2020 election and his revisionist descriptions of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump exhibited that same behavior more than 20 years ago when he made questionable claims about what he witnessed during the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. (Trump said at the time, for example, that he watched as thousands of Muslims cheered in Jersey City, when the buildings came down, an assertion that has been debunked).<\/p>\n
The candidates did not speak during the morning event, with the focus on listening to family members of the victims. Some were children, born after the attacks, while others recalled memories of an uncle, cousin, father or sibling. Trump was joined by his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., with Rudy Giuliani seated nearby, while Harris was near Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.)<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a heinous terrorist attack on September 11, 2001,\u201d Harris said in a statement ahead of arriving here. \u201cAs we commemorate this day,\u201d she added, \u201cwe should all reflect on what binds us together as one: the greatest privilege on Earth, the pride and privilege of being an American.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump began the morning with an interview with \u201cFox & Friends\u201d in which he complained about the debate moderators, cited lopsided polls declaring him the winner, and said he was \u201cless inclined\u201d to agree to another debate, as Harris has proposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was three to one. It was a rigged deal, as I assumed it would be,\u201d he said on Fox News. \u201cBut I thought I did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump briefly touched on the Sept. 11 attacks during his Fox interview, calling it \u201cvery sad\u201d as he noted he would visit the crash sites in New York and Pennsylvania. \u201cIt was a horrible day. Horrible day. There\u2019s never been anything like it. Just a horrible day.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his nearly decade-long stint in the public arena, Trump has infused his appearances with patriotic themes \u2014 from the frequent chants of \u201cUSA! USA!\u201d that he sparks at his rallies to the moment at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2020 when he hugged and kissed an American flag onstage while mouthing \u201cI love you, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Harris launched her presidential campaign in July, she has tried to reframe the patriotism debate \u2014 positioning herself as a leader who would fight to preserve America\u2019s freedoms, including reproductive rights, while casting Trump as someone who would restrict them. Those themes are a continual thread at her rallies, particularly as she seeks to broaden her appeal to more conservative voters whom Trump has alienated with his tone and tactics.<\/p>\n
The vice president reintroduced herself to the nation in her convention speech as the product of an American story \u2014 a middle-class daughter of immigrants who was able rise to the highest echelons of power because of the unique opportunities that her country offered. The Harris campaign has also tried to elevate past criticism of Trump from former military leaders and Trump\u2019s former aides \u2014 including former vice president Mike Pence, former defense secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Harris forcefully made that case herself Tuesday night in the debate, telling Trump that former military leaders have described him to her as \u201ca disgrace\u201d and faulting the former president for failing to accept any responsibility violence that occurred on Jan. 6 at the Capitol.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor everyone watching, who remembers what January 6th was, I say, we don\u2019t have to go back.,\u201d Harris said Tuesday night. \u201cIt\u2019s time to turn the page. And if that was a bridge too far for you, well, there is a place in our campaign for you to stand for country, to stand for our democracy, to stand for rule of law and to end the chaos and to end the approach that is about attacking the foundations of our democracy because you don\u2019t like the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the past week, Harris\u2019s campaign has deployed high-profile Republicans to argue that patriotic Americans should back the vice president, even if they don\u2019t agree with her ideological positioning. GOP surrogates like former Pence adviser Olivia Troye and Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Trump\u2019s White House Communications director, drove that message in Philadelphia this week. Both highlighted the importance of the recent announcements by former vice president Dick Cheney and his daughter, former congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), that they will be voting for Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cheneys look at Vice President Harris\u2019s economic agenda, her ideas around national security and they know that it\u2019s in line with the arc of American history,\u201d Scaramucci said Tuesday before the debate. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing radical about it, and I think it gives space and comfort to normal Republicans \u2014 not Trumpist Republicans, but normal Republicans and independent moderates \u2014 that Vice President Harris is the right choice in this current election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump, by contrast, has sought to portray Harris as a failed and ineffective leader, faulting her for the deaths of U.S. citizens in the Afghanistan withdrawal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t fire anybody having to do with Afghanistan and the Taliban and the 13 people whose were just killed viciously and violently,\u201d Trump said during the debate. \u201cAnd I got to know the parents and the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump recently visited Arlington National Cemetery at the request of some of those family members, with some of his campaign officials getting into an altercation with a cemetery staff member who was attempting to enforce guidelines the campaign had received not to take photos and videos near the graves of U.S. service members killed in recent years. His campaign later posted a video of the visit on his social media accounts.<\/p>\n
But Brian Hughes, a Trump spokesman, scoffed at Harris\u2019s embrace of patriotic themes, arguing that she\u2019s \u201csaying what she needs to say, because she thinks this is what the voters need to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that somebody who let one of the worst military incidents \u2014 the withdrawal from Afghanistan \u2014 happen on her watch, refuses to acknowledge the loss of the families that were left behind \u2014 and then wants to tell me about patriotism? Come on,\u201d Hughes said in an interview.<\/p>\n
If memorials of Sept. 11 in the past provided a rare moment of national unity \u2014 with Republican and Democratic leaders embracing on the Senate floor and a nation cheering along as President George W. Bush spoke from a bullhorn atop the rubble in New York \u2014 the current moment has been one of bitter partisanship.<\/p>\n
Trump is a longtime New Yorker whose views on immigration appeared to harden with the attacks. On that morning in 2001, Trump was watching CNBC as it prepared to interview former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, when the network cut away to a scene of the first tower on fire. One of his first reactions when the planes hit was to call a television show to offer commentary.<\/p>\n
He later visited Ground Zero, and he has cited the attacks to challenge immigration policies, religious tolerance and the need for global alliances.<\/p>\n
Trump has claimed that he saw the plane strike the second tower, and that from his window he observed the tragedy of people jumping from the buildings \u2014 claims that fact-checkers have questioned.<\/p>\n
Trump called into a New Jersey radio station that day and was asked what he would do if he were president.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019d be taking a very, very tough line,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThis just can\u2019t be tolerated. And it\u2019s got to be very, very stern.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also remarked that a building he owned had been the second-tallest in Manhattan but, now that the twin towers had fallen, would become the tallest. (That also was inaccurate; a different building held that title).<\/p>\n
Harris has spoken of the Sept. 11 attacks as an enduring reminder that unity in America is possible, even at moments of intense partisanship. In remarks at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville on the 20th anniversary of 9\/11, Harris said America was reminded in the days following attacks that \u201cunity is imperative in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is essential to our shared prosperity, to our national security, and to our standing in the world. And by unity, I don\u2019t mean uniformity,\u201d Harris said at the 2021 event that also featured former president George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush. \u201cWe had differences of opinion in 2001 as we do in 2021. And I believe that in America, our diversity is our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump hasn\u2019t often spoke with passion about 9\/11, but he did invoke it during a 2016 Republican primary debate when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) criticized him for \u201cNew York values.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely, than New York,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou had two 110-story buildings come crashing down. I saw them come down. And we saw more death, and even the smell of death, nobody understood it. And it was with us for months, the smell, the air. And we rebuilt downtown Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump on Wednesday morning both arrived here in Lower Manhattan, the site of the worst terrorist attack in American history, each pausing for a moment of solemn commemoration in the midst of a frenetic political season. They stood feet away from one another, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}