Joe Biden delivered an impassioned statement from the Pentagon on the 21st anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, reinforcing his plea for Americans to “stand up” for democracy.
According to the president, Americans ‘owe it’ to the 9/11 terrorist attack victims to protect democracy.
The president left his Delaware home earlier than normal on Sunday in order to go back to a soggy Washington, D.C., where he laid a wreath at the Pentagon 9/11 monument and gave a speech on the attack’s 21st anniversary.
With a huge black umbrella in hand and a raincoat on, Biden arrived at the nation’s capital during a rainstorm. He then boarded The Beast, the president’s motorcade, and drove to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
In his comments on Sunday in the pouring rain outside the Pentagon, the president cited the late Queen Elizabeth II only days after her passing, saying: “Grief is a price we pay for love.”
In his comments, Biden added, “It’s not enough to assemble and commemorate those we lost more than two decades ago on September 11th.” Because today is about the future rather than the past,
He went on to say, “We have a responsibility, a duty, to defend, maintain, and safeguard our democracy.” “The exact democracy that protects the freedom that those terrorists tried to bury in the scorching flames, smoke, and ash on September 11th.” And that requires a commitment from each and every one of us.
Just ten days before, Biden spoke in Philadelphia and referred to former President Donald Trump and his followers as a danger to democracy.
The president has now attempted to retract such remarks, saying he does not believe Trump supporters pose a danger to the fabric of the country.
To an audience holding up dark umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain, Biden stated, “American democracy rests on the habits of the heart of we the people.”
The president said, “We must defend democracy every single day; it is not enough to do it once a year or seldom.”
In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers of a hijacked airliner prevented terrorists from reaching their intended target, First Lady Jill Biden gave a speech on Sunday.
The four hijackers perished along with all 40 of the passengers and crew.
The vice president and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, meantime, arrived in New York City early on Sunday to take part in a memorial service at the National September 11 Memorial Museum at ground zero.
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were among those seen attending the solemn occasion.
Biden assured the media accompanying him on his Sunday trip from Delaware to Washington, D.C., that justice will be served to the families of the victims even though the attackers are still being held in Guantanamo Bay prisons two decades later.
All 64 passengers on the aircraft as well as an additional 125 persons within the Pentagon perished on September 11, 2001, leaving a death toll of 184.
Both an inside chapel and an outdoor monument memorialise the lives lost on the property. The memorial contains a bench for each victim.
Members of Biden’s defence department staff, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, were there with him on Sunday at the Pentagon.
Before the president ascended the platform, the two spoke while it was pouring outside.
Austin commended individuals who enlisted in the military both then and now to continue protecting the United States, while Milley referred to the 9/11 attacks as an assault on American democracy.
Austin stated, “Today, there are 184 steel seats around us, each holding the name of a person who was killed in the Pentagon assault.” And each night, 184 lights are turned on, illuminating their bench.