This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated September 13, 2024
As the presidential campaign moves into its final phase following the debate between Harris and Trump on September 10, it should not be forgotten that some of the most reprehensible things Trump has ever said or done are directly related to 9/11.
When interviewed on WWOR-TV on September 11, 2001 after the Twin Towers fell, Trump bragged about his lower Manhattan property, saying, “now it’s the tallest,” which was not actually true. More importantly, no normal, decent person would think about that in that moment.
In 2021, Trump hosted a White House ceremony for the reauthorization of the Victim Compensation Fund, telling 60 first responders in attendance, “I was down there also, but I’m not considering myself a first responder.” In 2016, speaking of those who cleared rubble and searched for survivors, he claimed, “I helped a little bit.” FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles, who was there at Ground Zero and attended the 2021 White House ceremony, has stated that he knows Trump was not there. No evidence exists to support Trump’s claims.
Trump collected $150K from a program for small businesses hurt by 9/11, despite publicly saying none of his properties were damaged. He later claimed it was reimbursement for charitable work, but an aide to former-Governor Pataki confirmed the program didn’t reimburse for that and records show funds were requested for cleanup and repair.
Trump said he donated $10K to the 9/11 fund, but the Comptroller’s office verified he made no such donation. Records only show a $1K donation to a Scientology program for first responder treatments and $100K to the 9/11 Museum during the 2016 campaign from his Trump Foundation, which was funded with donations from others.
Trump contends that from his Midtown apartment window over 4 miles away, he witnessed people jumping from the towers on 9/11. I watched that morning from a midtown building a mile closer and can personally attest that was impossible.
Trump claimed, “I lost hundreds of friends in 9/11,” yet he has never been able to name one. For this to be true, he would have had to have known one in every ten people who died.
Trump stated, “I watched in Jersey City, NJ, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering,” adding, “It was on television. I saw it… a heavy Arab population, that were cheering as the buildings came down.” Police say this did not happen and there are no reports or television footage of anything like this.
On September 11, 2013, Trump tweeted, “I’d like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th.”
He bragged that his appearance on Face The Nation in 2017 gave the show its highest ratings since 9/11, saying 9/11 was a tremendous advantage in comparing ratings.
Trump lied about watching people jump from the towers and about losing many friends on 9/11 and about helping at Ground Zero and about watching Arab-Americans in New Jersey celebrate the attack on television.
Trump pretended to have donated his own money to the families of victims and to have sustained damages at one of his buildings that was unaffected so he could collect assistance meant for small businesses that had legitimately been hurt.
Trump has invoked 9/11 to boast about his ratings, call out his enemies, and brag about how tall his Lower Manhattan building is.
Donald Trump is a lying, conniving braggart, but repeatedly lying, conniving, and bragging with respect to 9/11 is truly abhorrent.
Such disrespect for those that should be honored is not relegated to 9/11 when it comes to Trump. His own former Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, confirmed on the record late last year that Trump called American service members “suckers” and “losers,” refused to visit their graves, and that he did not want to be seen with amputee veterans because “it doesn’t look good for me.”
Trump received criticism from veterans groups last month when he compared the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military honor, to the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom. “It’s actually much better because everyone that gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers,” he said. “They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”
On August 26, he and his campaign broke the law by engaging in political campaign activity in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where that is strictly prohibited. When an Arlington official instructed them to stop, two campaign officials allegedly had a verbal and physical altercation with her.
When the story broke, Trump’s campaign questioned the Arlington staffer’s mental health and Trump claimed families who were there wanted the campaign photos taken. The law is the law, and it is meant to ensure all families wishes are respected on those hallowed grounds. What was Trump’s response to all of this? He put out a campaign video from his Arlington visit, including him giving a thumbs-up while grinning atop soldiers’ graves.
