If there’s one thing we know about Donald Trump it’s that he’s not above telling a white lie. But here’s one that’ll surprise you (kidding, we know it won’t).
On his beloved Truth Social account, Trump joyfully hit the “ReTruth” button (think retweet, but with a conservative spin) on a post that praised him for his response to the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. The post was from the account @VanSickleLee, and its contents are part of a viral meme that has circulated online since the early days of Trump’s presidency. It reads as follows:
“Two days after the 9/11 attack, Donald Trump was at ground zero with hundreds of workers that he paid of his own pocket to help find and identify victims. This was much before he was even thinking of running for President. He’s always been a patriot to the country he loves.”
Now, let’s take a look at what Trump actually said that day, just to put matters into perspective. It’s very reminiscent of his tirade at Diamond Hardaway’s funeral a few weeks ago, in which Trump forgot to even talk about Diamond when asked to give a speech specifically about Diamond.
On the morning of 9/11, while on the phone with TV station WWOR, Trump didn’t offer condolences or sympathy to New York City, or express any grief or sadness in response to the thousands of lives lost that day, nor did he offer thanks to the first responders who laid down their lives in protection of their fellow citizens.
No, instead, Trump talked about the building he owned, 40 Wall Street, waxing poetic about how his building was now the tallest in New York after the collapse of The Twin Towers.
“Well, it was an amazing phone call. I mean, 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, and now it’s the tallest.”
To be fair, Trump’s answer was prompted by a question by WWOR, but neither in his response, nor anywhere else in his conversation, did he once venture outside the capitalist mindset – or should we say, narcissistic mindset – of “my building is taller than yours” to offer up any semblance of real human emotion. He did, however, mention how upset he was that Wall Street had shut down that day.
Furthermore, fact-checkers at USA Today discredited Trump’s claims that he helped out at Ground Zero in the days after 9/11 at all. In fact, the photo associated with the meme is not even at Ground Zero.
So, no, we can’t say we’re surprised Trump would pat himself on the back for something he didn’t do. Still, you think he’d have some decency not to lie in the face of one of the worst terrorist attacks in American history.