Something you probably picked up on over the last several years, if not much earlier than that, is that every time Donald Trump opens his mouth, dozens of lies fly out like the monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. Whether they’re little lies like claiming you need an ID to buy cereal; big lies like the ones he told re: the coronavirus being no cause for concern; insane lies like boasting that Ivanka had created 14 million jobs; or complete and total WTF lies like accusing Joe Biden of using performance-enhancing drugs, the man is physically incapable of telling the truth.
Naturally, nothing has changed since Trump left the White House, which is why it should come as no surprise whatsoever to learn that in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the ex-president has been dropping his favorite lie about the attacks into conversation.
Appearing on Newsmax on Tuesday night, Trump claimed, as he has previously, that he was down at Ground Zero assisting first responders on 9/11, a piece of historical fiction for which there is scant evidence. “I was down there right after the event,” Trump said, “and I brought a big crew of people down and I helped, a lot of other people helped. Those first responders are very brave. And I’m telling you, we were hearing creaks; I’ve never forgotten it. There was—I think the United States Steel Building it was called at the time, and it’s 50 stories tall, and we heard creaks. I said, ‘That building’s going to come down,’ and two big firemen grabbed me and grabbed other people, and they just moved out of that area. Never came down, but I’d never heard a noise like that.”
While there is a photo of Trump outside of the New York Stock Exchange on September 18, 2001—wearing a suit with not one speck of dust on it—and video footage of him doing an interview several blocks from Ground Zero two days after the attacks, in which he claimed he had more than 100 “men down [there]” and “about 125 coming,” fact-checkers have noted that there is no evidence whatsoever that he personally assisted the recovery effort in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. As USA Today reported in 2019, Richard Alles, who served as the New York Fire Department battalion chief during the attacks, has repeatedly said that he has no recollection of Trump being at Ground Zero. In an interview with The New York Times, Alles said that he “never witnessed” the real estate developer at the site, adding, “He was a private citizen at the time. I don’t know what kind of role he could have possibly played.” In a different interview with PolitiFact, Alles also cast doubt on Trump’s claim of having sent a minimum of 100 men to help the recovery effort. “I was in a supervisory role with the fire department at the time,” he said. “I was there for several months—I have no knowledge of his being down there.” Alles also added that “there would be a record” if Trump had, in fact, sent dozens of workers down to assist first responders. “Everybody worked under direct supervision of the police and fire department and the joint commander for emergency services,” Alles said. “Is there a chance he was ever down there by himself and I didn’t know it? It’s possible, but I know of no one who ever witnessed him there.”
For those unfamiliar with Trump’s other favorite 9/11 lies, the canon also includes claiming that he watched people jump from the Twin Towers while in his 5th Avenue apartment located roughly four miles from the World Trade Center; that he saw Muslims celebrating the attacks in Jersey City—a lie that has been exhaustively researched and conclusively debunked—and that he essentially predicted 9/11.
Incredibly, Trump’s Tuesday commentary regarding the deadliest terrorist act in world history isn’t even the worst thing he’s had to say about 9/11 in the last few weeks, an honor that goes to his argument that Osama bin Laden wasn’t that bad a guy compared to other terrorists.
Anyway, how will the former president—who reportedly has his eye on returning to the White House—be commemorating the 20th anniversary of the attacks? We’re so glad you asked:
Somber!
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