Biden news: Former VP talks about losing son Beau with 9/11 families and arm bumps Pence after rearranging schedule to sidestep Trump
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Joe Biden spoke about losing his son Beau as the Democratic presidential nominee met families of 9/11 victims on Friday morning. "You know, I lost mine," he said as was handed a photo a 9/11 victim. "[He] never goes away".
The venom of the presidential campaign was briefly paused for the anniversary of the terror attacks, with Mr Biden and Vice President Mike Pence bumping elbows at memorial services in Shanksville.
The ceasefire didn't last long. Following the service, the VP delivered beers to volunteer firefighters in the town as allegations from Donald Trump resurfaced online claiming Mr Biden took drugs during his Democratic primary debates against Bernie Sanders.
The president has suggested his opponent get drug tests, prompting Mr Biden to hope he doesn't "get baited" by Trump during the upcoming presidential debates.
A Democrat running against Qanon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, meanwhile, suddenly dropped out of the Georgia race for "personal reasons". Kevin Van Ausdal said he was deeply saddened, but didn't go into depth as to why beyond "personal and family reasons".
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'We all stood around in utter disbelief... strangers were hugging each other’ - Kamala Harris on 9/11
The Democratic VP candidate remembered being at a gym in California as images began coming on the television in 2001.
Joe Biden meets 9/11 families
The Democratic presidential nominee met families of 9/11 victims following the memorial service at Ground Zero on Friday morning, where he shared stories of losing his son, Beau, to brain cancer inn 2015.
Speaking with an attendee, Mr Biden said “You know, I lost mine”, as he was handed a family photograph.
“[He] never goes away”.
How Trump and Biden marked 9/11
Joe Biden was on an Amtrak train on Sept. 11, 2001, when his wife called to tell him about the attacks on the World Trade Center, and when he reached Washington, he grew frustrated that he couldn't get to the Senate floor for a speech because the U.S. Capitol had been evacuated.
Hundreds of miles to the north - and four miles from Ground Zero - Donald Trump was sitting in a tower bearing his name, watching CNBC and preparing to call a local TV station to offer his own commentary, including a lament that the stock market was forced to close.
Nineteen years later, the pair are their respective party's presidential candidates, bringing the two candidates to the same place on the same day at separate events in Shanskville, Pennsylvania, just weeks before the November election,
"Their responses fundamentally demonstrated the one perpetual, personal and political divide between them," said Aaron David Miller, who served in the State Department under both Democrats and Republicans,
Matt Viser reports:
Biden refused to hide in bunker, Trump called a TV show: How they reacted on 9/11
"Their responses fundamentally demonstrated the one perpetual, personal and political divide between them"
Biden meets Pence at 9/11 memorial
As Donald Trump headed to a memoiral in Shanksville, Pennslyvannia, on Friday morning vice president Mike Pence was at a ceremony in New York, where the Republican crossed paths with election opponent Joe Biden.
The pair were seen greeting one another, with both wearing face masks, alongside their wives.
Biden at Ground Zero
The Democratic presidential nominee is currently at Ground Zero, where a 9/11 memorial service is underway as the names of almost 3,000 victims killed in the terrorist attacks are being read aloud.
Following disputes over coronavirus precautions, there are two commemorations taking place in New York on Friday morning.
Here’s Joe Biden making his way to a 9/11 memorial event in New York, saying today “is a solemn day”.
‘I hope I don’t get baited’, says Biden on Trump debate
When Joe Biden and Donald Trump appear together for the first time in Cleveland, Ohio, later this month, the Democratic presidential nominee says he has one goal: “I hope I don’t take the bait.”
“I hope I don’t get baited into a brawl with this guy, because that’s the only place he’s comfortable,” said Mr Biden during a fundraising event on Thursday.
His comments provide some insight into the former vice president’s preparation for the debate on 29 September - one of three televised debates set to take place before the 3 November election.
Mr Biden has previously said he plans to be a “fact checker” on the debate stage, holding Mr Trump accountable for any misstatements or falsehoods.
On Thursday night, he said “people know what a liar” the US president is.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, was reported to have shunned traditional mock debate practice, with aides concerned that he has underestimated Mr Biden’s capabilities on the stage.
Associated Press
Biden to attend Ground Zero 9/11 memorial
Joe Biden’s campaign said late on Thursday that the Democratic presidential nominee would take part in duel memorial services commemorating the anniversary of 9/11 in New York on Friday, in what appeared to be a last minute addition to the candidate’s schedule.
Mr Biden, who will also attend another memorial service at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, was not expected to come face-to-face with Donald Trump at either event, with the US president due to speak in Shanksville in the morning.
Vice president Mike Pence is set to attend the Ground Zero ceremony, 19 years after the attacks on New York and the Pentagon killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Biden’s caution over environmental messaging, as California burns
As the West Coast continued to burn this week, where an area bigger than Hawaii has now been scorched, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump remained relatively quiet on the developing environmental crisis, with Democrats highlighting the balancing act their candidate must carry-out ahead of November’s election.
"The Biden campaign understands that a full embrace of an aggressive climate change agenda could create problems for them in Upper Midwest," said Dan Schnur, who served as an adviser to former California governor Pete Wilson and Arizona senator John McCain.
Still, climate activists say the moment underscores the need for Washington to support the Green New Deal, an ambitious — and likely costly — plan to wean the US from fossil fuels and drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's no surprise that Trump isn't talking about the fact that America is literally in flames on his watch — but why isn't Biden?" said Rebecca Katz, a political strategist who has worked with Democratic congressional candidates supporting the measure. "For Democrats to not connect what's happening on the West Coast to Trump's failure on climate change is just political malpractice."
The Biden campaign's response to the fires is especially notable since his running mate, senator Kamala Harris, represents California in the Senate.
Both Mr Biden and Ms Harris have, meanwhile, commented on the crisis in posts on Twitter, where the Democratic presidential nominee told followers that the climate crisis "is already here — and we're witnessing its devastating effects every single day."
"We have to get president Trump out of the White House and treat this crisis like the existential threat that it is," he said.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker who also hails from California, told MSNBC News on Thursday that “mother earth is angry”.
“She’s telling us with hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in the West, whatever it is...the climate crisis is real and has an impact.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press
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