Former Bush Communications Aide Says 9/11 “Highlights Trump’s Failures”

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:11 pm

Kristopher Purcell, a former communications aide to George W. Bush and a co-founder of 43 Alumni for Joe Biden, a PAC comprised of Bush administration alumni who are voting for Joe Biden and speaking out against President Donald Trump, says the anniversary of the September 11 attacks “highlights Trump’s failures.

Purcell recalls working in the Bush White House on September 11, 2001, and says that Bush stepped up to the plate to lead the nation during a time of national prayer and mourning. But things are decidedly different on the 19th anniversary of the attacks as the country grapples with the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic.

“This year, on Sept. 11, 2020, our nation faces multiple crises simultaneously. But behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, we have a man incapable of resolve, incapable of focus, incapable of strength, incapable of reassurance,” Purcell writes in an op-ed for NBC News. He remembers when Trump called into a New York news station to brag that one of his buildings was now the tallest in Manhattan. Purcell says Trump “lamented the loss of the skyline but spared little sympathy for the loss of human life.”

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“Today, after millions of Americans have fallen ill and almost 200,000 people have died, Trump again seems more focused on damage control and his personal finances than helping regular people,” Purcell continues. “We now know that Trump knew the danger we faced with COVID-19 but intentionally played it down. More than 55 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits, and countless small businesses are failing, yet Trump spent valuable time trying to push through $1.75 billion in relief funds for a gleaming new FBI building across the street from his Trump International Hotel.”

“Americans don’t expect our presidents to be perfect; we know they will make mistakes,” Purcell observes. “But they do expect our leaders to work to ease tensions and calm fears and to be honest about the challenges we face. Instead of bringing us together, addressing racial injustice and presenting a national strategy to stop the spread of the virus, Trump has intentionally sowed division, encouraged white nationalists and vigilantes while downplaying the threats they pose to society, stoked fear and spread misinformation with dangerous consequences.”

Purcell stresses that Trump “represents an existential threat to our Constitution, our security and our health,” reason enough for him and his fellow Bush alumni to set up the 43 Alumni for Joe Biden PAC.

“You don’t need to support the full Joe Biden-Kamala Harris agenda; I don’t,” he concludes. “But the nation cannot survive another four years of Donald Trump’s chaos, corruption, incompetence and lies.”

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.