It looks like Donald Trump may be rethinking how he marks the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks now that he's running for president. Trump apparently deleted a two-year old tweet this week that marked the date by extending ""best wishes to all, even the haters and losers."
"I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th," Trump tweeted on September 11, 2013.
As many, including Bill Kristol , the editor and publisher of the Weekly Standard began to take notice of the tweet, it was deleted.
What was not deleted, however, was Trump's later manual retweet of his own comment:
“@realDonaldTrump: I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th.”— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2013
Some were surprised that Trump, known for his outspoken nature and loathing of political correctness, had backed down from his previous comments.
I wouldn't have expected Trump to back off that old 9/11 tweet. Here it was: pic.twitter.com/7XKLFQOHXy— Colin Campbell (@BKcolin) September 11, 2015
So far, Trump has had little to say on Twitter to mark Sept. 11. Instead, he's been celebrating his soaring poll numbers in Iowa, where he will campaign over the weekend.
Very good news—the new Quinnipiac poll just came out—I am #1 in Iowa.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2015
Trump's campaign had a simple response to those who asked why the tweet was removed. Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Business Insider that it was deleted because, "It is from several years ago."
Update: 11:25 a.m. EST
Later in the morning, Trump tweeted a new comment to mark Sept. 11.
Let’s all take a moment to remember all of the heroes from a very tragic day that we cannot let happen again!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2015