The 22nd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks has arrived and rather than continue the decades-long tradition to honor this day, he has chosen to travel to Alaska to deliver remarks.
Typically, the president would be expected to travel to Washington D.C., New York City or Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the four crashes occurred.
However, Biden will be speaking at Joint Base Elmendorf-International Airport in Anchorage.
This decision diverges from how past presidents have commemorated the event – a divergence that many view as controversial.
In his four years as president, Donald Trump attended memorial services at either the Pentagon or Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania annually.
His predecessor Barack Obama observed the anniversary by visiting Fort George G. Meade in Maryland and once held a prayer service on the South Lawn of The White House.
George W Bush was known for observing a moment of silence on The White House South Lawn and once visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital for an observance ceremony there during his presidency.
On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris chose to commemorate this year’s anniversary at The National Sept 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City while First Lady Jill Biden paid her respects at The National Sept 11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington Virginia.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will be paying tribute later today when he travels to Shanksville, Pennsylvania where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into an empty field after brave passengers thwarted its intended target – believed by many experts as being The White House or Capitol Hill.
Many are viewing this move from President Biden as controversial and offensive because it strays from what has been done in years past.
