President Biden on Monday was called “tone-deaf” and “flippant” by the 9/11 terrorist organization after he falsely claimed he visited Ground Zero immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. .
“I remember Ground Zero in New York, standing there the next day looking at the buildings,” Biden said in a speech at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on the 22nd anniversary of the attack. he said.
“It felt like I was looking into the gates of hell. From where I was standing, it was a very harrowing sight,” he said.
However, at the time, Sen. Biden did not visit Ground Zero until nine days after the attack. The White House confirmed as much in an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, which noted Biden’s visit as part of a Senate delegation on September 20, 2001.
September 11, 2023, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, after greeting service members, first responders and their families on the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. President Biden greets military personnel. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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Biden has repeatedly made similar false claims in the past. Just last month, he said he witnessed a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh, but didn’t actually visit the damage site until hours later.
Terry Strada, who lost her husband in the 9/11 World Trade Center attack and is the president of 9/11 Families United, told Fox News Digital that Biden’s remarks in Alaska were more of a “campaign speech” than a memorial. He said it sounded like.
“As soon as I heard his words, I realized the mistake,” she said. “If he can be so cavalier about something so important, then nothing that comes out of his mouth after that becomes believable. What the 9/11 community wanted to hear from the president on Memorial Day. One of the things was accountability.”
“He has never once talked to us about what we need, about justice and transparency,” she said. It was more like an enthusiastic election speech.
![Terry Strada at a press conference](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/09/1200/675/GettyImages-1234487637-e1694609574945.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Terry Strada (center), who lost her husband Tom Strada, stands with those who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a reporter on the Sept. 11 Transparency Act at the Capitol. Listen at the press conference. August 5, 2021 in Washington.direct current (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, whose father was killed in the World Trade Center, said Biden’s speech was “tone deaf” and said Biden “doesn’t pay attention to the 9/11 community or intends to.” It showed that the government was ignoring the
“On his way back from a meeting with the ruler of a country accused of supporting 9/11, he chose to stop in Alaska,” he said. “You have to wonder what he’s thinking. This sends a very upsetting signal to the 9/11 community.”
Biden has just returned from a trip to Asia for the G20 summit, where he met with world leaders including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks were Saudi nationals, but Saudi officials have consistently denied any involvement.
Eagleson said Biden should “deliver on his promise” and “bring closure and justice to the families of 9/11.”
“During his campaign, he promised to declassify documents related to the Saudi government’s support for the 9/11 attacks,” he said. “Biden’s own Justice Department and FBI are ignoring him on this point. Biden issued the following statement: presidential order In September 2021, his own department head is ignoring it. All the while, his administration is working on a ‘mega-deal’ with Saudi Arabia. ”
“We want promises to be kept and we want someone to hold Saudi Arabia accountable,” he added. “To the 9/11 families, do the right thing. Stand with us, not Saudi Arabia. Hold Saudi Arabia accountable for what its government did to America 22 years ago.”
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![Mohammed bin Salman (left), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center), and US President Joe Biden](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/09/1200/675/GettyImages-1653978013-e1694609841774.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister (left), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre), attend a session as part of the G20 Leaders’ Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, September 9, 2023. President Biden. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Strada told Biden that the law, called the Securing Justice for Victims of Terrorism (EJVTA), strengthens current law that allows families of terrorist victims to seek financial compensation from foreign sponsors of terrorism. He called for support for the newly introduced bipartisan bill.
“There is a law called the Securing Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, and we sent a letter to President Biden last week with over 1,000 signatures asking for his support, but President Biden ignored that request,” Strada said. Stated. “He thumbed his nose at us during 9/11 and lied the day after September 11, 2001, that he was at Ground Zero to energize his base. This is unacceptable behavior. He should be embarrassed and correct his statement and then stand by it.” EJVTA. ”
Despite his 2020 campaign promise to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” state, Biden has given up on a potential deal between the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize relations between the two Middle East countries, according to the CIA. The CIA reported that they were trying to mediate. carried out the assassination of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Biden administration has been tight-lipped about a potential deal, which reportedly includes concessions to the Palestinians, U.S. assistance in building a civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia, and U.S. national security concerns. It is said to be obtained in exchange.
Meanwhile, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations have provided the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the following information: submitted a bipartisan letter asking for the provision of “The complete unredacted record of Saudi Arabia’s role in the attack” and “a full explanation of the continuing need to declassify some of these records.”
“Your failure to respond to our letter is a sign that the U.S. government has long been committed to providing full transparency to the American public, especially the families of the 9/11 victims, about Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks. This only increases our concerns about what they are refusing to do,” the senators wrote.
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The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.