Tipsheet

Here's Where Joe Biden Will Be on Anniversary of 9/11

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  August 29, 2023 9:30 PM

This upcoming September 11 will make it 22 years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with flight United 93 crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, though it had been headed for the Capitol. Given the significance of those locations, presidents usually spend the time in New York, Virginia, and/or Pennsylvania. That's not what President Joe Biden has planned, though. Instead, he'll be in Alaska, while Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will be in New York. First Lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the Pentagon. 

According to The Hill: 

President Biden will mark the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by attending a memorial ceremony in Alaska on his way back from a trip to Asia, the White House announced Monday.

The president will participate in a ceremony with members of the military and their families, the White House said, while Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a commemoration ceremony in New York City at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

...

The president’s stop in Alaska will come on the heels of a trip to Asia.

Biden will attend the Group of 20 Summit in New Delhi, India, from Sept. 7-10, and he will visit Vietnam Sept. 10 as well, the White House confirmed Monday. Biden had previously said he planned to visit Vietnam in the near future.

While in Vietnam, Biden will meet with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other leaders “to discuss ways to further deepen cooperation between the United States and Vietnam,” the White House said.

As the report mentions, the stop in Alaska is timed with his trip to Asia which includes not just the G-20 summit, but a stop in Vietnam as well. 

A report from the Associated Press stressed how Biden would not be attending the more traditional sites, but added a caveat. "It will not be the first time that a president has not attended annual observances at any of the three sites," the report mentioned, mentioning examples of Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush comemmorating the anniversary on the White House lawn. 

"The White House did not announce which official will participate in the Pennsylvania observance," the report also noted, though. 

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As our sister site of Twitchy highlighted, people were rather baffled by the move, wanting to know the motive. Some figure it's because any gaffes he committs won't be as noticed. Although Biden will be stop by for an event at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the location does seem random to many.

This trip to Asia in September, comes as the president has already spent most of the month of August on vacation, including at Rehoboth Beach and Lake Tahoe.