Biden claims he visited Ground Zero day after 9/11

President Joe Biden on Monday observed the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at an event in Alaska during which he made the dubious claim that he visited Ground Zero in New York city the day following the attacks.

"Ground Zero in New York - I remember standing there the next day and looking at the building. I felt like I was looking through the gates of hell," he said. "It looked so devastating... from where you could stand."

BIDEN: "Ground Zero in New York — I remember standing there the next day and looking at the building. I felt like I was looking through the gates of hell."

On September 12, 2001, Biden was in Washington, D.C., for a Senate session. pic.twitter.com/vUyu63KXcV

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 11, 2023

Biden, however, was in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, 2001, for a Senate session. His 2007 book "Promises to Keep" states that Biden arrived in Washington on Sept. 11 after a plane hit the Pentagon and that he saw the smoke from that crash, per the New York Post. The outlet further highlighted a headline from Sept. 12, 2001, that asserted Biden spent the day in D.C.

His book makes no mention of any trip to Ground Zero in New York, but does state "I headed back to the Capitol the next morning," placing him in D.C. for much of the day.

The president has long attracted scrutiny for his habit of telling dubious stories in apparent bids to relate to his audience. He has repeatedly claimed that his son Beau died in Iraq, for example. In reality, Beau Biden died in 2015 of brain cancer at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

His latest gaffe comes amid mounting scrutiny of his age and fitness for office. At age 80, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.