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WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump followed a night of tense debate with a day of solemn tribute on Wednesday, briefly shaking hands before a 9/11 memorial services in at Ground Zero in New York City.
Harris and Trump, who had a more awkward handshake just before Tuesday’s contentious debate, also visited Shanksville, Pa., one of the sites of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“We will never forget,” Harris said in a statement; Trump, who also visited a New York firehouse to mark the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, told Fox News that it was “just a horrible day.”
The morning after their high-stakes political debate, the two major party presidential candidates began their day at the former site of the World Trade Center, the twin towers that were the first targets on 9/11.
As loved ones read out the names of the fallen on 9/11, Harris and President Joe Biden stood on the front row just a few feet away from Trump and running mate JD Vance.
Later in the morning, the candidates traveled to Shanksville, Pa., the field where a hijacked plane crashed amid a battle between passengers and 9/11 hijackers.
Harris and Biden also plan to attend a memorial service at the Pentagon, another target on 9/11.
“Today is a day of solemn remembrance as we mourn the souls we lost in a heinous terrorist attack on September 11, 2001,” Harris said in her statement before the ceremonies. “We stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones.”
Trump, in an early morning phone interview with Fox News, called 9/11 a “very, very sad, horrible day, horrible day. There’s never been anything like it, just a horrible day.”
While Vance accompanied Trump in New York, Harris’ running mate – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – planned to attend a 9/11 memorial service in his home state.
During the day, Trump also tweeted politics. He continued to criticize Harris, and suggested there would not be a second debate.
Political tensions remained during the 9/11 ceremony. At one point, a woman yelled at Trump: “Where were you for (the) 20 years I’ve been here? Where were you?”
The 23rd anniversary of 9/11 came the morning after a debate in which Harris pounded Trump for his volatility and his conservative economic and military plans while Trump angrily denounced the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump rants also highlighted the debate, including discredited conspiracy theories that migrants in an Ohio city are killing and eating dogs and cats.
According to a CNN “flash poll,” most registered voters who watched the debate said Harris outperformed Trump; the margin was 63%-37%.
While the candidates took a pause from politics for 9/11, their campaigns moved forward with the presidential race.
In his Fox interview, Trump complained about the debate moderators but still claimed success. “I thought I did a great job,” he said.
Harris appeared to throw Trump off stride during the debate by attacking him on a variety of issues, from his position on abortion to mocking the size and lack of enthusiasm of his rally crowds.
The morning after, the Harris team sent out fundraising solicitations celebrating her performance but reminding supporters that “debates don’t win elections.”
“This race will be very close,” Harris said in a fundraising e-mail.
