During a speech today marking the signing of the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund, Donald Trump once again repeated one of his favorite “claims to fame” — that he was present at Ground Zero after the horrific attacks of September 11th, 2001.
That’s not a little white lie, like telling your sixth-grade classmates your brother’s a black belt in karate and he’ll beat them up. That’s massive. When I hear the phrase “stolen valor,” I understand that it means people pretending to be war heroes or to have served when they didn’t, but it always makes me think of Trump saying how he “helped clean up a little bit.”
Today, he got even bolder: Addressing the actual first responders, Trump told them he “spent a lot of time down there with you.” He said he doesn’t “consider” himself a first responder, as though he gets to make that distinction.
And here’s the deal. We’ve always known he was lying, because his story about what he was doing on and after 9/11 has changed so many times. Was he at his condo in Trump Tower (4 miles from the World Trade Center) “watching” the towers fall? Was he in Jersey City listening to imaginary Muslims send up imaginary “death to America” chants? It seems that whatever suits him at the time and in front of whichever audience is what he goes with.
Today we’re all done with that.
In the afternoon edition of the New York Times, we are treated to a snippet of an interview with Richard Alles, a retired deputy chief with the New York Fire Department who says there’s no way on earth Donald Trump was there
I spent many months there myself, and I never witnessed him. He was a private citizen at the time. I don’t know what kind of role he could have possibly played.”
According to the Times, Mr. Alles recalled memories of meeting Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, who was instrumental in passing the bill that was signed today. Trump did not invite her to the ceremony.
Featured image via screen capture
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