The 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack brought US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump together in a moment of civility on Wednesday, barely 10 hours after they exchanged insults during their fiery debate presidential debate.
In a memorial at Ground Zero here, the Vice President and former President locked in a tight race for the White House shook hands with President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance looking on.
That was the second handshake and personal encounter after having first met face-to-face at the debate in Philadelphia, this time Trump smiling and patting Harris' hand gently with his left hand.
In a grim recall of the terrorist attack that unified a stunned citizenry on 9/11/2001, the four stood together as the ceremony began honoring the 2,977 victims with a pledge to never forget.
On that day, al-Qaida terrorists had driven two hijacked aircraft into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, a symbol of America's prowess in commerce, and another into the Pentagon, the citadel of US military might.
Relatives of the victims took turns reading the names of their loved ones in New York's annual rite after a silver bell tolled.
One of the other hijacked planes witnessed passengers resist the terrorists and crash the jet in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Biden and Harris visited the memorial there that honored the 97 passengers who died there.
Trump and Vance had arrived at the site after Democrats left it.
In a fire station that Biden visited at Shanksville, a supporter of the former president handed him a red "Trump 2024" hat.
Sportingly, Biden took it and donned the hat of his nemesis who had harsh words for him the previous night.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates tweeted on X: "At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about how after 9/11, the country unified in a bipartisan way and said we needed to get back to that.
In a message, Biden said, "On this day 23 years ago, terrorists believed they could break our will and bring us to our knees. They were wrong. They will always be wrong. In the darkest of hours, we found light."
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