Joe Biden and Mike Pence participated in a moment of silence for the 9/11 victims at Ground Zero in New York City on Friday.
Biden, left, and Pence bumped elbows and wore face masks to symbolize unity during the weakening coronavirus.
Biden, Vice President Pence and their wives joined former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his life partner to observe a moment of silence during a memorial at Ground Zero.
Following the moment of silence, the names of thousands of victims were played in pre-recorded audio by family members.
The names are usually read in-person by family members, but the ceremony was scaled back to accommodate the visiting lawmakers and Secret Service agents.
On this day 19 years ago, 246 airline passengers packed bags, 2,606 commuters went to bed, 343 firefighters, 60 police officers and 8 paramedics went to sleep in preparation for their morning shifts. None of them saw past 10:00am Sept 11, 2001. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/YlmJPw5bfz
— ??Michael Bastos ?? (@bastosmichael) September 10, 2020
After the ceremony, Biden will head to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the 40 passengers and crew members who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed when the passengers fought with hijackers to regain control of the plane on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I’m not going to be making any news today. I’m not going to talk about anything other than 9/11,” Biden said before departing to New York. “We took all our advertising down. It’s a solemn day and that’s how we’re going to keep it.”
President Donald Trump also took down his campaign ads for the day.
