WASHINGTON- Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump followed a night of tense debate with a day of solemn tribute on Wednesday, attending a series of events marking the 9/11 anniversary and briefly shaking hands before a memorial service at Ground Zero in New York City.
Harris and Trump, who had a more awkward handshake just before Tuesday's contentious debate, also visited Shanksville, Pennsylvania, one of the sites of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
"We will never forget," Harris said in a statement; Trump, who also visited a New York firehouse to mark the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, told Fox News that it was "just a horrible day."
The morning after their high-stakes political debate, the two major party presidential candidates began their day at the former site of the World Trade Center, the Twin Towers which were the first targets on 9/11.
As loved ones read out the names of the fallen on 9/11, Harris and President Joe Biden stood on the front row just a few feet away from Trump and running mate JD Vance . The crowd was a sea of blue and white as FDNY and NYPD officers wore their dress uniforms to honor those lost in service. Some attendees donned shirts printed with their lost loved ones’ faces while others held up laminated signs.
Where the towers once stood are now two reflection pools − their walls engraved with the names of the fallen. On Wednesday the dark slabs of stone were adorned with fresh bouquets and countless American flags, some baring thin red stripes to represent firefighters. About 343 firefighters died on 9/11 which, at the time, amounted to nearly half the number of on-duty deaths in the New York City Fire Department’s entire 100-year history.
Their names, along with the other New York victims, were read at Wednesday’s ceremony by family members. At the end of each list was a personal speech about one of the victims. Many of the readers were young children who spoke about family members they never got to meet.
After Ground Zero, Trump and Vance visited a nearby New York fire station.
The former president's entourage included Trump family members as well as conservative activist Laura Loomer , who has voiced unfounded conspiracy theories about alleged U.S. government involvement in 9/11. Loomer also flew with Trump to Tuesday night's debate in Philadelphia.
Harris, Biden, and Trump later traveled to Shanksville to the field where a hijacked plane crashed amid a battle between passengers and 9/11 hijackers.
The current president and vice president laid a wreath at the crash site memorial. They also visited the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department, where Biden tried on a red Trump hat as a gesture of 9/11 umity.
"At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about the country's bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that," said White House spokesman Andrew Bates, speaking on the social media site X. "As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it."
Trump toured the Shanksville 9/11 memorial shortly after Harris and Biden departed. He also visited the same firehouse.
Harris and Biden also attended a memorial service at the Pentagon, another target on 9/11.
"Today is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a heinous terrorist attack on September 11, 2001," Harris said in her statement before the ceremonies. "We stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones."
Trump, in an early morning phone interview with Fox News, called 9/11 a "very, very sad, horrible day, horrible day. There's never been anything like it, just a horrible day."
While Vance accompanied Trump in New York, Harris' running mate – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – attended a 9/11 memorial service in his home state.
During the day, Trump also spoke about politics. He continued to criticize Harris and repeatedly suggested there would not be a second debate , despite ongoing talks with television networks about sponsoring more contests.
“I would do NBC, I’d do Fox, too ... but right now we have to determine whether or not we want to do it," Trump told reporters in Shanksville.
Political tensions remained high during the 9/11 events.
At one point during the New York ceremony, a woman yelled at Trump: "Where were you for (the) 20 years I've been here? Where were you?"
The 23rd anniversary of 9/11 came the morning after a debate in which Harris pounded Trump for his volatility and his conservative economic and military plans while Trump angrily denounced the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump's rants also highlighted the debate, including discredited conspiracy theories that migrants in an Ohio city are killing and eating dogs and cats.
According to a CNN "flash poll," most registered voters who watched the debate said Harris outperformed Trump; the margin was 63%-37%.
While the candidates took a pause from politics for 9/11, their campaigns moved forward with the presidential race.
In his Fox interview, Trump complained about the debate moderators but still claimed success. "I thought I did a great job," he said.
Harris appeared to throw Trump off stride during the debate by attacking him on a variety of issues, from his position on abortion to mocking the size and lack of enthusiasm of his rally crowds.
The morning after, the Harris team sent out fundraising solicitations celebrating her performance but reminding supporters that "debates don't win elections."
"This race will be very close," Harris said in a fundraising e-mail.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump meet again, shake hands at 9/11 memorial service
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