US commemorates 23rd anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York

US commemorates 23rd anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York | The U.S. is remembering the lives taken and those reshaped by 9/11, marking an anniversary laced with presidential campaign politics as President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris stood together in the plaza where the twin towers once stood.

Sept. 11 — the date when hijacked plane attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001 — falls in the thick of the presidential election season every four years, and it comes at an especially pointed moment this time.

Trump and running mate Sen. JD Vance arrived at the trade center site around 8 a.m. and posed for photographs with some in the audience. Harris arrived with Biden about a half-hour later, to cheers of “Kamala!” from some audience members.

Biden and Trump shook hands, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared to facilitate a handshake between Harris and Trump. Then the Democratic and Republican nominees stood only a few feet apart, with Biden and Bloomberg between them.

The ceremony then began with the tolling of a bell and a moment of silence.

But the political backdrop wasn't top-of-mind for victims' relatives such as Cathy Naughton, who came to honor her cousin Michael Roberts, one of hundreds of firefighters killed in the attack.

Twenty-three years later, “it’s just so raw,” she said. “We want to make sure people remember always, and say the names always and never forget.”

“Every year, it just doesn’t get easier,” she added.

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