Biden will visit the memorial where John McCain’s plane was shot down in Hanoi and then mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in Alaska
- Biden will mark the 22nd anniversary of the Anchorage attacks during the fuel stop
- He will speak with military members, first responders and families
- It begins on September 11 in Asia with a meeting with Vietnamese leaders
President Joe Biden will spend Sept. 11 meeting with Vietnamese officials, visiting a memorial for an old friend and marking the anniversary of the attacks on an air base in Alaska.
The White House released details of its public schedule for the 22nd anniversary of the attacks after Biden departed Thursday for India, where Biden will attend the G20 summit with foreign leaders.
Details of his second stay in Vietnam are only just becoming known. It’s a part of the trip that Biden first revealed during a fundraiser last month.
Biden and McCain were friends in the Senate who served together for years, although Biden was on Barack Obama’s ticket, who defeated the late Arizonan.
President Joe Biden, who left for India on Thursday, will visit a memorial for the late Sen. John McCain and meet Vietnamese leaders in Vietnam on Sept. 11
Biden will speak to military members, first responders and families in Alaska on September 11th
McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and then spent five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.
The White House has already faced questions in the US about Biden’s 9/11 timeline. He will not attend any of the memorial services at the three attack sites – the first time a US president has not done so. Biden himself has attended several 9/11 services in the past.
Instead, according to the White House, he will “deliver remarks to service members, first responders and their families” in Anchorage, where he will make a refueling stop, “on the occasion of the anniversary of September 11th.”
McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967
Biden’s trip takes him to a G20 summit, where officials were still negotiating a possible communiqué and an infrastructure deal
Biden will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after inviting him to a state dinner this summer
Due to travel time and the full day of activities, this event is expected to take place hours after the first plane hits the South Tower in Manhattan.
Before that, Biden will meet with CEOs and Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. He also meets with Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng and attends a lunch.
This comes after he met the country’s supreme leader, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyễn Phú Trọng, on Saturday.