Barely 10 hours earlier, they had been at each other’s throats, calling one another a “disgrace,” “horrible” and “grossly incompetent.” Then they put down their political swords on Wednesday morning and stood just a few feet apart to mark one of the most solemn moments on the modern American calendar.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump joined President Biden and other dignitaries in a daylong journey to sites of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — traveling separately but collectively paying homage to the nearly 3,000 people killed on that day of devastation 23 years ago in a remarkable display of shared grief.
Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump shook hands politely at ground zero in New York the morning after their fiery debate, in what was only the second time they had met in their lives. They then stood together in a tent as the names of those who died at the World Trade Center were somberly read by sometimes teary-eyed family members. Standing between them were Mr. Biden and former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. On Mr. Trump’s other side was Senator JD Vance of Ohio, his vice-presidential running mate.
The picture of unity after a night of gladiatorial combat was, of course, just a surface-level show for the cameras. There is no love lost between Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump, nor between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. Just the night before, Mr. Trump referred to Mr. Biden as a “weak, pathetic man” who is so decrepit that he “doesn’t know he’s alive” and had disappeared from public view so much since dropping out of the race that “we don’t even know if he’s a president.”
But it is a mark of the singular nature of Sept. 11 as a traumatic national touchstone that the combatants in today’s scathing political wars would feel compelled to share a tent even for an hour. Both sides knew that whoever did not show would pay a political price, so they swallowed any reservations and made the appearance. No speeches were given during the ceremonies, averting the risk of an impolitic statement.
The gridlock of motorcades of current, former and would-be presidents and vice presidents in Manhattan soon gave way to separate trips to Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew rose up against the hijackers who had seized the plane. This time, Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris appeared first without Mr. Trump, laying wreaths in a wordless ceremony at a national memorial, then visited a nearby firehouse, bringing pizza and beer for lunch with relatives of those who died and local firefighters.
