Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:10 pm
Fifteen years ago on this very day, the current Republican nominee for president Donald Trump bragged about his 71-story building being the tallest building in downtown Manhattan after the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.
Here’s what your GOP nominee had to say during a 2001 live phone interview with WWOR on 9/11, on the very day of the terrorist attack, unearthed by Michael Kruse at Politico Magazine:
“40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest—and then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.”
Listen here:
Trump said this as people were dying.
Donald Trump’s propensity to see things entirely through the warped lens of his own self image isn’t a new thing. A thing like this could be forgiven were it but a gaffe. But Trump has a systemic problem with not only foot-in-mouth disease, but with being incapable of thinking and seeing others. Trump is quite simply blind to the existence of others unless they reflect upon him.
Yet another example of Trump’s stunning lack of humanity regarding 9/11 is the New York Daily News’ exclusive story that Trump claim that he used $150,000 in 9/11 government money to help people is “unfounded.”
That money was designated for small businesses to help them recover after 9/11.
Here’s the money quote from Trump in response to attacks in April of this year that he took money meant for small businesses, “It was probably a reimbursement for the fact that I allowed people, for many months, to stay in the building, use the building and store things in the building. I was happy to do it and to this day I am still being thanked for the many people I helped. The value of what I did was far greater than the money talked about, much of which was sent automatically to building owners in the area.”
The News obtained documents that revealed the truth. Trump used those funds for “rent loss,” “cleanup” and “repair”, even though he also stated that his building wasn’t impacted by “what happened” to the World Trade Center, though the News notes he said this before businesses were shut down in the aftermath.
But Trump did not use the funds to help people.
Even on 9/11, before the smoke had cleared, Trump was bragging about his building now being the tallest. And after the smoke cleared, Trump found more ways to make 9/11 good for him, by profiting off of the government’s attempt to help small business owners recover from 9/11 and then misleading the public by claiming he took the money to help people.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
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