New York's 9/11 mayor conveniently forgets about 9/11

Another foreign relations gaffe from the Trump campaign.
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Trump campaign stumbled through another historic gaffe on Monday courtesy of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who conveniently seemed to forget about the Sept. 11 attacks in an effort to undermine President Barack Obama.

Speaking ahead of a joint appearance by Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence in Ohio, Giuliani brought up Pence's lack of foreign relations experience. During the speech, Giuliani paused and said, "Under those eight years, before Obama came along, we didn't have any successful radical Islamic terrorists attacks in the United States."

The problem: Giuliani conveniently overlooked two big attacks in his own city.


You May Also Like

First, there was the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing. At the time, Giuliani was an attorney at Anderson Kill Olick & Oshinsky but soon after took a leave of absence to run for mayor (he won).

Far more substantial, of course, were the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, during which Giuliani was still serving as mayor of New York. In fact, Giuliani was quick to invoke the attacks during his previous presidential run in 2007-08 for which he faced backlash.

Twitter was, as usual, unforgiving.

The Trump campaign will likely release a statement at some point today in an effort to explain Giuliani's gaffe, though it's hardly the first such gaffe coming from the Trump campaign relating to action in the Middle East.

Campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, speaking to CNN two weeks ago in the midst of the controversy over Trump's statements about the Khan family, blamed Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama for Capt. Humayun Khan's death even though Khan died in 2004, years before Obama was in the White House.

And just over the weekend, when asked about Trump calling President Obama the "founder of ISIS," Pierson said, "We weren't even in Afghanistan by this time; Barack Obama went into Afghanistan."

Pierson later apologized, saying she meant to say Syria instead of Afghanistan but mixing up two very different countries that the U.S. has been involved with isn't the best sign of competence.

Topics Elections

Mashable Image
Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You

How to watch New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers online for free
Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders warms up

Daryl Hannah criticizes her portrayal in 'Love Story' as 'textbook misogyny'
Paul Anthony Kelly and Dree Hemingway in "Love Story."

Wordle's creator made a new game, and it's way harder
wordle on a screen of a phone

Grok is producing millions of sexualized images of adults and children
A sign next to bus stop in London reads "Who the hell would want to use social media with a built-in child abuse tool?" and a photo of Elon Musk.

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

What's new to streaming this week? (April 3, 2026)
A composite of images from film and TV streaming this week.


NYT Strands hints, answers for April 3, 2026
A game being played on a smartphone.
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!