Washington DC, September 12 :
Wearing a red cap reading "TRUMP 2024," US President Joe Biden demonstrated what the White House has described as bipartisan unity as he attended a fire station to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. The president, according to a White House spokesman, was expressing the need to go back to the country's united front following the assaults. According to CNN's reporting, the spokeswoman confirmed that Biden was given a hat by a man wearing a Trump cap after he extended a hand for a symbolic gesture.
At a 9/11 anniversary event held at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump, Senator and Republican contender for vice president, JD Vance, were all in attendance.
Visiting Ground Zero in Manhattan for a memorial service on Wednesday, all four were in the Big Apple.
Hours before somber memorial rites, Trump and Harris shook hands in a good gesture, following their heated presidential debate on Tuesday night. But there was no sign of interaction between Vance and Harris.
Following their visit to Shanksville, Biden and Harris went to the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania to lay wreaths.
During the ritual, Biden and the small group he was accompanying lowered their heads and he placed his hand on the wreath. A nearby Shanksville volunteer fire station was an important meeting place for families in 2001, and the president and vice president paid them a visit as well.
At the exhibit, Biden and Harris saw a cross fashioned from the remnants of the plane. Before entering to speak with some of the families impacted by that day, Biden made the sign of the cross.
Biden appeared to be demonstrating bipartisan solidarity inside the fire station by temporarily donning a Trump cap.
Two of the four planes hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists struck the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan, killing almost 3,000 people in the worst terror attack in US history. Two more jets went down in Pentagon crashes, and a fourth went down in a Pennsylvania field as a result of passengers trying to stop the hijacking.
President Biden had earlier today underlined the nation's determination and promised that the desire to safeguard American lives and forestall further terrorist strikes will be unwavering.
There was a terrorist attack 23 years ago today, he said, and the attackers thought they could defeat America. What a mistake... Their attempt was unsuccessful. But we need to have our wits about us. A long-sought war came to an end today. However, we will never waver in our resolve to stop such attacks on our people. No matter where we find terrorist networks, we will disrupt them. And just as we have done with Osama bin Laden (2011) and Ayman al-Zawahiri (2022), we will keep bringing those responsible for terrorist plots against America to account.
"Today is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a horrific terrorist attack on September 11, 2001," Vice President and 2024 presidential contender Kamala Harris remarked in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack. Their loved ones and families have our unwavering support.
