The widow of an FDNY chief killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center lambasted President Joe Biden for saying "I'm doing 9/11" when describing his plans for the day.
Joanne Barbara, whose late husband Gerard A. Barbara died at Ground Zero, spoke Tuesday at the New York ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
"The elected officials here today show their respect and reverence to the families on Sept. 11, or — in our president’s words — 'do 9/11,' quite a flippant remark," Barbara said, the New York Post reported.
"Please remember that the 9/11 families live it every day."
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended the ceremony, as did former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.
On Tuesday, the 81-year-old Biden was asked about his plans ahead of the debate between Harris and Trump.
"I'm going up to my granddaughter's birthday in New York. Then we're gonna watch the debate, then tomorrow I'm doing 9/11," Biden said while heading to Marine One on the White House lawn, DailyMail.com reported.
Barbara also slammed the "outrageous" plea deal that almost was allowed for the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and two terrorist accomplices.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revoked the agreement early last month after it was slammed by Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as well as 9/11 survivors and the families of victims.
The deal would have removed the possibility of a death sentence in exchange for guilty pleas on all counts for accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad and two of his alleged accomplices, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
"If not for the 9/11 families, who knows what would have transpired?" Barbara said.
"It has been 23 years and the families deserve justice and accountability."
People in the crowd then applauded and cheered.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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