This year marks the 25th anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks ever on U.S. soil on Sept. 11, 2001. Terrorists flew commercial planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. On a fourth flight, passengers took control of the jet, forced it off its intended target, and crashed it into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
As has been true for more than two decades now, U.S. presidents also mark the somber memorial, attending events and making speeches, remembering the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in the horrific tragedy.
President Donald Trump is no exception. On Tuesday, Trump spoke at a ceremony on the Ellipse, paying tribute to the victims and one hero in particular. But in true Trumpian fashion, he managed to hijack the memorial, no pun intended, and make it all about himself.
“Today we also honor another hero of 9/11. After the plane hit the South Tower, a group of people on the 78th floor were trapped with broken bones, charred skin, and eyes and lungs filled with black smoke,” Trump extolled.
“Death was all about them. It was certain. They were sure they were going to die. Then suddenly a rescuer appeared. They call him ‘the man in the red bandanna,’” Trump continued before suddenly veering off script.
“Have you heard that term? ‘The man in the red bandanna?’” He’s become more famous than me,” Trump stunningly crowed.
Then he spoke his truth.
“I don’t like it. Ha ha. I’m very unhappy about it. He’s become much more famous than me,” Trump pretended to be mad as he laughed about it in the middle of such a somber occasion.
“That rescuer was a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter from Rockland County named Welles Crowther … on September 11, Welles saved many, many people before losing his own life in the South Tower lobby when the building came down,” Trump continued, getting back on track.
He went on to posthumously award Crowther the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, giving it to Crowther’s family who were on hand at the event.
Social media exploded in anger and disbelief.
“How can they all stand there and listen to this narcissistic mutha f-cker spouting bullsh-t after bullsh-t. Disrespecting true heroes who saved people,” a Threads user angrily wondered.
Another can’t take it anymore. “The level of HIS disrespect….the level of the disrespect of his entire staff to let HIM spew this nonsense. It’s not unbelievable, because of who he is, but enough is enough.”
This commenter used just three words to describe Trump’s behavior: “He’s such scum.”
“And you’re saying they didn’t want him to give a speech at the 9/11 memorial?” another sarcastically noted.
Actually, Trump won’t attend this year’s memorial at the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York because he can’t give a speech. Organizers banned political speeches during this year’s service at the site where the World Trade Center towers fell.
Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend the memorial in Trump’s place. Trump is scheduled to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon.
Crowthers, whose father was a firefighter, is credited with saving the lives of at least 18 people trapped in the South Tower after the plane hit, according to the New York Post.
He was killed at what investigators believe was a makeshift command center set up by firefighters in the lobby of the South Tower when the building collapsed. His body was recovered several months later.
The Post reports that 343 New York firefighters lost their lives on 9/11 trying to rescue Americans trapped in the burning towers.
In all, almost 3,000 Americans died in the attack, not including the 19 hijackers.
Trump, meanwhile, has spent years embellishing stories about how he helped after the attacks. In an interview on Fox News, he told the host, former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy, that he rushed to Ground Zero the day after and put construction crews to work helping at the scene. His description cannot be verified.
In another wild tale, he told Gowdy that he watched the attacks unfold from an apartment and initially wondered whether the first impact could have been caused by something other than a plane.
That wasn’t enough. Trump made another extraordinary claim during the ceremony on the Ellipse Tuesday. He claimed he wasn’t in the apartment watching the attack unfold; he was stunningly rescued from the rubble itself.
He now claims two firefighters essentially pulled him from the rubble moments before the towers collapsed. That’s in stark contrast to what actually happened. On 9/11, after the attacks, Trump called in to a radio station and bragged that one of his buildings in the city was now the tallest in New York.
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