Presidentgeorge-w-bush” target=”_blank”> George W. Bush<. He stood atop the World Trade Center rubble and delivered an impromptu speech that would comfort first responders at the scene and unite Americans.
In Fox Nation’s “I Can Hear You,” host Martha MacCallum sits down with members of the team that accompanied the president to New York on that day and witnessed what would become known as the “bullhorn moment.”
Before the 43rd president made his way to the Big Apple, it was of high importance to allow first responders to continue rescue efforts without any roadblocks.
“You don’t want to have a president appear at something like this prematurely because it ties up traffic, it ties up people,” said Karl Rove, Fox News contributor and Deputy Chief of Staff under George W. Bush. Rove noted “the most important thing was get people out.”
“There was still time to find people in all that wreckage.”
On September 14, 2001, it was time for the president to make his way to Ground Zero. With one arm embracing a firefighter and the other grasping a bullhorn, Bush, who had held office for less than eight months, began thanking first responders.
Someone in the crowd shouted “I can’t hear you” to which Bush replied “I can hear you!… The rest of the world hears you!…The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”
White House Chief of Staff under George W. Bush Andy Card recalled how the president’s remarks gave way to patriotic chants.
“There were people hanging off of scaffolding going USA, USA, and they had Japanese flags on their uniforms. And then I see these rescue dogs sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. And the handlers are chanting, USA, USA. And they had Canadian flags on the uniform,” said Card.
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“This is remarkable. There was tremendous unity.”
Rove reflected on the incredibly emotional scene in Lower Manhattan.
“I looked over to the left and I could see the cardinal of New York standing about 30 feet away with all the religious leadership in New York,” said Rove.
“They were waving little American flags and chanting and there were openly weeping.”
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