New York: The 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack brought US Vice President Kamala Harris and US President Donald Trump together in a moment of peace on Wednesday, just 10 hours after they hurled barbs during their heated presidential debate.
At the Ground Zero ceremony, the two presidential hopefuls, in a close battle for the White House, came together in a rare moment of unity, shaking hands in front of President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
That was their second handshake and close encounter after meeting in person at the Philadelphia debate. This time, Trump smiled and gently stroked Harris’ hand with his left hand.
In a sombre reminder of the terrorist atrocity that shocked the nation on 9/11/2001, the four stood together as the ceremony began, remembering the 2,977 deaths with a commitment to never forget.
On that day, al-Qaida terrorists crashed two hijacked planes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, a symbol of America’s commercial strength, and another into the Pentagon, the stronghold of US military supremacy.
In New York’s annual tradition, relatives of the victims took turns reading their loved ones’ names after a silver bell tolled.
Passengers on another hijacked plane defied the hijackers and wrecked the plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Biden and Harris proceeded to the memorial to honour the 97 people who died there on that fateful day.
Trump and Vance visited the site after the Democrats had left.
When Biden visited a fire station at Shanksville, a supporter of the former president handed him a red “Trump 2024” hat.
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Sportingly, Biden took it and wore the hat of his nemesis, who had harsh words for him the previous night.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates posted on X, “At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS [president of the US] spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that”.
Biden’s message was one of resilience and hope, “On this day 23 years ago, terrorists believed they could break our will and bring us to our knees. They were wrong. They will always be wrong. In the darkest of hours, we found light”.
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Arul Louis–IANS
