Biden insists the Al Qaeda threat is at an ‘historic low’ and admits Alaska is ‘a long way’ from Ground Zero in a September 11 speech that started with a joke about the governor also being from Scranton
Joe Biden claimed the threat from Al Qaeda is at an all-time low as he justified his decision to mark the anniversary of September 11th thousands of miles from Ground Zero.
Biden has been criticized for giving a speech in Alaska, 4,500 miles from Ground Zero, but he claimed that “distance did not ease the pain we felt across the country on September 11.”
He began his short speech with a joke about baseball and seemed to forget the name of a military officer who received him.
“Threats of all kinds from Afghanistan and Pakistan are at an all-time low,” Biden said. “This has all changed in the last 22 years.”
Joe Biden defended his decision to mark 9/11 in Alaska
Despite the solemn occasion, the president started off by joking about how he and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy were both born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
He said, “I wish I would have let him play in my high school ball club while I was playing, I could have been an All American.”
Biden went on to describe his recent five-day trip to the G7 in India and his stop in Vietnam on the way to Alaska: It was about deterring terrorism.
“These trips are a central part of how we will ensure that the United States is flanked by the broadest range of allies and partners who will stand with us to deter any threat to our security and build a world which is safer for everyone. our children,” he said.
“Something we are reminded of today is not self-evident.”
Biden delivered his remarks to U.S. troops at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base in Alaska.
The White House instead sent Vice President Kamala Harris to the ceremony at Ground Zero in New York.
Biden told his audience in Alaska: “Never forget. Never forget. We never forget. I remember standing there the next day and looking at the building. It felt like I was looking through the gates of hell.
Biden spoke at a base where planes were shot down on September 11
“But we will never forget that we persevered in the face of evil and an enemy who wanted to tear us apart. We stuck with it.”
He added; “I spent many 9/11s on those hallowed grounds bearing witness to and remembering those we lost every day. But especially in the last few days, their memory has stayed with me.’
He said that 22 years ago, planes had been put on high alert from the base he was at.
“Communities across Alaska have opened their doors to stranded passengers,” he said. “American flags that were sold out in every store were placed in front of seemingly every home. We know that on this day the heart of every American was wounded.”
Despite saying Al Qaeda was at an “historic” low, Biden warned of a rise in extremism and political violence.
He told service members and their families that “every generation must fight” to preserve American democracy.
“That’s why the terrorists attacked us in the first place: our freedom, our openness, our institutions,” he said. ‘They failed. But we must remain vigilant.’