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US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden pay tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks and visit the site of the Shanksville attack in the US state of Pennsylvania.
US President Donald Trump and his Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden held separate events to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Trump attended a memorial ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Friday, 19th anniversary of the attacks.
Islamist extremists from the Al-Qaeda terror network crashed the fourth plane there in 2001 after the other members of the terrorist squad directed two planes to the World Trade Center in New York and another to the Pentagon in Washington. The president and first lady listened silently in Shanksville as the names of the 40 dead passengers and crew were read.
That morning, Biden attended a memorial service in Manhattan, New York, for the nearly 3,000 victims of the World Trade Center attacks. Trump was not present at the celebration in his hometown of New York, the White House was represented by Vice President Mike Pence.
Neither Biden nor Pence gave a speech, the focus of the event at the “Ground Zero” memorial is traditionally the families of the victims. Several minutes of silence were observed for the victims, the first at exactly 8:46 am local time, when the first plane crashed into one of the “twin towers”.
Later, Biden and his wife Jill were expected in Shanksville. The two opponents will not meet, however it is likely that Trump was gone by the time of Biden’s arrival.
No space to campaign
None of them will likely use the events for election campaign purposes. The commemorations are traditionally “free of rhetoric to pay tribute to the victims,” said political scientist Robert Shapiro of Columbia University. However, all major American media outlets are reporting on the ceremonies, giving Biden and Trump the opportunity to “show their leadership skills and empathy,” Shapiro said.
(APA / AFP)
