Earlier Tuesday morning President Donald Trump posted a tweet that appeared to celebrate the 9/11 attacks. Many Americans expressed confusion, anger, and outrage over his extraordinarily inappropriate message.
And now, New York Times photographer Doug Mills has posted a photo of President Trump and the First Lady greeting “supporters,” he says, as they arrive in Shanksville, Pennsylvania to attend a 9/11 Flight 93 memorial service.
The president can be seen with both fists in the air, and he appears excited and energized. First Lady Melania Trump appears to better understand the moment. Her head is down and she appears solemn.
40 passengers and crew members died in the hijacked Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. The four hijackers also died. The plane’s brave passengers upon learning of the other attacks intentionally downed the plane into a field to avoid allowing the hijackers to plow the aircraft into its intended target: the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
And again, just as they did in response to Trump’s earlier tweet, many Americans expressed confusion, anger, and outrage over this image of the President of the United States appearing in a celebratory mood on 9/11.