Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump joined relatives of 9/11 victims Wednesday morning at a solemn memorial ceremony at Ground Zero commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The rival candidates shook hands again just hours after their acrimonious presidential debate on Tuesday night, then stood separated by President Biden and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg during a moment of silence and the reading of the victims’ names by relatives.
Hijackers from al-Qaeda carried out the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, crashing two airliners into each of the Twin Towers and another plane into the Pentagon. A fourth plane believed to be headed towards Washington, D.C., crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
“Today is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a heinous terrorist attack on September 11, 2001,” Harris said in a statement before the event. “We stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones.”
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, and New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand also attended the Ground Zero ceremony. Mayor Adams, recovering from COVID, was not in attendance. He marked the day by hanging a wreath outside Gracie Mansion early Wednesday.
“Never forget each of the 2,977 precious lives stolen from us when terrorists attacked our nation,” Biden said in a statement. “Never forget their families who still bear the grief from that searing September morning. Never forget the heroic citizens and survivors who rushed to help their fellow Americans. And never forget that when faced with evil — and an enemy that sought to tear us apart — we endured.”
With News Wire Services
