Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a radio interview that President Joe Biden "shouldn't come" to New York on the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, The New York Post reported.
Giuliani, who was the city's mayor at the time of the attacks and was later the personal attorney for former president Donald Trump, sharply criticized Biden for his handling of the withdrawal of US armed forces from Afghanistan. He said Biden's planned visit to the 9/11 Memorial would be "as if I went down to Ground Zero and I said, 'Take out the firefighters and all you civilians, see if you can get yourselves out and maybe some terrorists can help you out.'
"Biden has made the 20th anniversary much more excruciating than ever before," Giuliani added in a tweet Friday evening. "It would be as if on 9/11, I removed FDNY and NYPD and told the civilians to fend for themselves or get terrorists to help. He is a disgrace."
Biden has made the 20th anniversary much more excruciating than ever before. It would be as if on 9/11, I removed FDNY and NYPD and told the civilians to fend for themselves or get terrorists to help. He is a disgrace.
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) September 10, 2021
On Saturday, Biden planned to visit the three sites where hijacked planes crashed on September 11: Ground Zero in New York City, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after passengers grappled with hijackers, killing everyone on board.
Giuliani, who was hailed as "America's mayor" for his handling of the attacks, has recently garnered controversy for his involvement in Trump's Ukraine scandal and for representing the former president in lawsuits attempting to overturn the 2020 election, a report from the Independent noted.
Giuliani was not the only prominent voice with negative comments against Biden. Former New York governor George Pataki was also critical of the president for his pulling out of Afghanistan, which has allowed the Taliban to rapidly take over the country, ousting the US-backed Afghan government.
“One of the things we say constantly about September 11 is ‘never forget,'” Pataki said at the memorial, according to The New York Post. “It certainly seems — when it comes to the fact that the terrorist attack of September 11 was organized and planned from Afghanistan — that Joe Biden did forget.”