NEW YORK CITY, NY (WSAU) – Republican presidential candidates are taking time today to remember those who lost their lives 22 years ago today during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
The GOP candidates for 2024 remembered the anniversary by paying tribute to the bravery of the first responders while expressing the hope that Americans can once more band together for the common good.
Former President Trump weighed in and posted to his Truth Social account saying, “No one who lived through the horror of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks can ever forget the agony and the anguish of that terrible day, it was a terrible day. The images of dark plumes of smoke billowing over lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field of Pennsylvania, such a beautiful field, are seared into our minds forever — we will never forget,” former President Donald Trump said in a campaign video. “Today on this solemn anniversary of those monstrous attacks, we remember the 2,977 precious souls who were savagely taken from us on that morning 22 years ago, leaving a void that can never be filled.”
President Donald J. Trump’s Statement on the Anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks pic.twitter.com/Y1QWqTS6rd
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 11, 2023
In preparation for his visit to the World Trade Center, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—the only presidential candidate who is also a veteran—issued a statement on his official Twitter account paying tribute to the victims.
“Twenty-two years ago, nineteen terrorists took 2,977 innocent lives in the deadliest attack against America in our history. We will never forget,” DeSantis wrote.
Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador, remembered the terrorist attacks while praising those serving in the military, including her husband, and she expressed hope that the nation will be able to come together as it did after 9/11.
“Twenty-two years ago, the soul of America was shaken in a way we had never felt before. Terrorists came into America and murdered thousands of our citizens on our soil. We will never forget the precious lives lost and the heroes who emerged—the firefighters who rushed into the towers, the airline passengers who gave their lives to save others, and so many who showed their courage on that terrible day,” Haley said in a statement.
Former Vice President Mike Pence vowed to remember the memory of the thousands of those who died while fighting for the nation.
“Today, Americans will again pause to remember the 2,977 lost on 9/11 and their Families,” Pence wrote in a tweet. “Their memory will live on in the hearts of the American people forever and We Will [Never Forget] or fail to Honor the Heroes forged that day and every day since defending our Nation.”
In his recollection of the “heroism” of the first responders, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy praised how Americans were able to band together in the aftermath.
“In the weeks that followed, we weren’t black or white; gay or straight; Democrat or Republican. We were all American. In the face of tragedy, we found unity. In the face of despair, we found renewed hope. Even as we pray that no calamity like it ever happens again, we can still long to be reunited once again as one nation under God,” Ramaswamy wrote in a tweet.
The city held a ceremony this morning that was attended by Mayor Eric Adams, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Families of victims join at the towers every year to lay flowers and U.S. flags by the names of their fallen loved ones.
Comments