Trump's 9/11 Comments Are Lies Or 'Memory Issues,' N.J. Mayor Says

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s recent comments about Muslims and the 9/11 attacks are part of a “hate campaign” that Jersey City won’t be party to, according to the city’s mayor.

Trump recently made headlines with an inflammatory call for surveillance of mosques as a way to fight terrorism, telling a crowd he saw thousands of people cheering when the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001 (an apparent reference to a Jersey City crowd that included Muslims).

“I want surveillance of these people,” Trump said at the public rally. “I want surveillance if we have to and I don’t care.”

Trump’s comments can be heard in the below video (via CBS News):

On Sunday, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fullop fired back at Trump with the following media statement:

“Trump is plain wrong, and he is shamefully politicizing an emotionally charged issue. No one in Jersey City cheered on September 11th. We were actually among the first to provide responders to help in lower Manhattan. Trump needs to understand that Jersey City will not be part of his hate campaign. Clearly, Trump has memory issues or willfully distorts the truth, either of which should be concerning for the Republican Party.”

Trump’s statement also rankled other local politicians and media sources.

“It was not clear what Mr. Trump was referring to,” the New York Times reported following the millionaire’s comments. “There were cheers of support in some Middle Eastern countries that day, which were broadcast on television. But a persistent Internet rumor of Muslims celebrating in Paterson, N.J., was discounted by police officials at the time. A search of news accounts from that period shows no reports of mass cheering in Jersey City.

Weird NJ, a local “urban exploration” magazine that specializes in researching Garden State myths, released a statement about Trump’s comments on its Facebook page:

“We here at Weird NJ often share the urban legends of our state with our readers, however, never do we go so far as to say that these local myths are 100 percent true, or that we have ‘seen it with our own eyes.’ Donald Trump, on the other hand, propagated a rumor yesterday that he observed thousands of New Jersey Muslims celebrating on Sept. 11, 2001 as the Twin Towers were toppled. This story ran rampant in the wake of the terrorists attacks and was supposedly witness in a number of NJ’s locations, including Jersey City, Paterson and even a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in Cedar Grove. But the thing about it is, it never actually happened, and there are no valid news reports to support the claims that it did. Far be it from the facts to squelch The Donald though…”

“It did happen,” Trump repeated in a subsequent interview with ABC. “I saw it. It was on television. I saw it.”

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