Trump, Clinton not planning to campaign on 9-11

Four years later, Obama marked the event at the Pentagon while his challenger Mitt Romney thanked first responders in Illinois and Nevada.

Neither Clinton nor Trump has released their public schedule for Sunday but both campaigns have confirmed they intend to halt television ads for the anniversary, keeping with a tradition of avoiding partisan presidential politics on 9-11.

Officials at the September 11th Memorial & Museum in New York have said that they did not extend formal invitations to either candidate or to the sitting president, in keeping with past practice. But, officials said they would welcome a visit from either candidate or the president should they choose to attend the commemoration.

Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Republican nominee, confirmed that Trump will not be campaigning that day but declined to provide any details as to his whereabouts or if he planned to mark the anniversary.

Clinton last attended the ground zero commemoration on the tenth anniversary of the attacks in 2011, when she was secretary of state. A spokeswoman for Clinton declined to comment about the Democratic nominee’s plans that day.

Trump and Clinton are the first New Yorkers to become their parties’ nominees for president since nearly 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks. Both candidates have made their experiences that day part of their campaign narratives.

Clinton was senator from New York at the time of the attacks and has frequently highlighted her efforts — including at her party’s convention this summer — to aid those affected by the World Trade Center collapse. She made frequent trips to the attack site and her staff has highlighted her efforts to help secure medical benefits for first responders sickened at ground zero.

Trump, meanwhile, has said he donated construction equipment to the recovery effort and gave $100,000 to the memorial after touring it for the first time earlier this year. But he also received widespread criticism for claiming that “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated when the towers toppled, a claim for which there is no proof.

New York typically goes Democratic in the general election though Trump has pledged to put up a fight for his native state. But while he easily won the New York state primary in April, he lost Manhattan to Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

The lower Manhattan memorial — now a peaceful open space flanked by soaring new skyscrapers — has hosted Obama and other elected officials at previous commemorations but in recent years, including Sunday, the speakers at the event will largely be family members of the deceased.

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Reach Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire

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This story has been corrected to reflect Sept. 11 death toll of nearly 3,000 people total, at all four attack sites.

Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Trump, Clinton not planning to campaign on 9-11

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