President Donald Trump was up bright and early on the morning of September 11, 2018. His Twitter feed shows he's been tweeting pretty regularly since 4:08 am EST, but many of these tweets show that he's more concerned about avoiding impeachment, evading a potential indictment, and delegitimizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's subversion of the 2016 presidential election.
In fact, the closest he's come to commemorating the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks himself––aside from retweeting a post from his social media director––is the following tweet, in which he notes how much time has passed:
The president has not memorialized the nearly 3,000 individuals who died on 9/11, nor has he offered condolences to their still living family members. He has not commended the efforts of the first responders, many of whom died while rescuing others before and after the World Trade Center crumbled. He has not extended his support for the many men and women who signed up for military service, some of whom died, lost limbs, or were dealt significant blows to their mental health.
Unsurprisingly, the president is being criticized for a response his critics say strikes an inappropriately congratulatory tone. In particular, the explanation point Trump used grants his words an odd, excited emphasis.
Others compared the president's message to the one issued by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
"There's nothing our resilience and resolve can’t overcome, and no act of terror can ever change who we are," Obama tweeted earlier today.
Trump has also been criticized after a video of him calling into a New York TV news broadcast as the station aired footage of the World Trade Center attacks to gloat that his building at 40 Wall Street would be the tallest in Manhattan.
“40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest — and then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest,” he said. “And now it’s the tallest,” Trump said to WWOR co-anchor Brenda Blackmon at the time.
Architectural records proved that claim to be false. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 70 Pine Street, at 952 feet, became the tallest building in the area after 9/11. Trump’s building at 40 Wall Street is 927 feet tall, 25 feet shorter than 70 Pine Street.
The president's inappropriate behavior was on display earlier as he arrived in Shanksville, Pennsylvania for a commemoration for the victims of United 93, which crashed in a field after passengers managed to seize control of the plane from its hijackers.
Photographs showed he appeared to be cheering, arms raised in a double fist bump as he greeted supporters.
The president has been savaged for many perceive to be a lack of decorum. There has been no word from his communications team.
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