This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

A History Of Donald Trump’s Tasteless Comments About 9/11

In November 2015, he claimed, without evidence, that “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey had celebrated the news of the attacks.

This is an updated version of an article first published in 2017.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday commemorated the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by attending a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the site of the United 93 crash.

“Today, all of America wraps up and joins together,” the president said in prepared remarks. “We close our arms to help you shoulder your pain and to carry your great, great sorrow. Your tears are not shed alone, for they are shared grief with an entire nation. We grieve together for every mother and father, sister and brother, son and daughter who was stolen from us at the twin towers, the Pentagon and here in this Pennsylvania field.”

Before leaving Washington, Trump kicked off his morning, as he often does, on Twitter, posting about the anniversary between missives about Fox News and Fox Business segments.

The president also praised Rudy Giuliani, then New York mayor. Giuliani is now Trump’s attorney, representing him in the special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia and whether the president obstructed justice.

As president, Trump has made measured remarks at Sept. 11 ceremonies, but he has a history of making insensitive and false comments about the tragedy.

The 2001 terrorist attacks were the subject of one of Trump’s most egregious lies during his presidential campaign. In November 2015, he claimed, without evidence, that “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey had celebrated the news of the attacks.

“I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down,” Trump said at a campaign rally. “Thousands of people were cheering.”

The following day, Trump reiterated his lie, claiming that the supposed celebration “was well covered at the time.”

“There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down,” Trump said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The lie, which has been roundly debunked, appeared to originate from an article published a few days after the attacks, reporting that law enforcement officials had investigated “a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river.”

But Trump, as he frequently does, exaggerated the allegation in the story ― an allegation that was never substantiated.

Following the rally in which he first peddled the lie, Trump mocked one of the journalists who wrote the original story, veteran New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, after Kovaleski himself affirmed that the story did not back up Trump’s lie.

“I certainly do not remember anyone saying that thousands or even hundreds of people were celebrating,” Kovaleski said.

In response, Trump performed a disgusting imitation of Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, a congenital joint condition.

On the actual day of the attacks, Trump, a New York real estate mogul, tastelessly bragged about his downtown Manhattan building, 40 Wall Street.

Calling in to a New York TV news broadcast, as the station aired footage of the World Trade Center towers collapsing, Trump claimed that his property would now become the tallest building in the area.

“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.”

That claim also turned out to be false.

Trump has frequently referred to the attacks on Twitter, his favorite medium of communication.

In 2011, he claimed that he’d foreseen the attacks.

And on the anniversary of the attacks in 2013, he tweeted his “best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date.”

This article has been updated with Trump’s comments on Tuesday.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.