As the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur approach, President Joe Biden bragged to Jewish leaders Thursday about his supposed visit to the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. A leader at the synagogue, however, has cast serious doubt on his account.
In October 2018, a mass shooter murdered 11 people at the synagogue in a disgusting act of violence. Nearly three years later, Biden implied he visited the synagogue sometime after the tragedy.
“I remember spending time at the, you know, going to the, you know, the Tree of Life synagogue, speaking with them,” he said Thursday.
President Biden: “I remember spending time at the, you know, going to the, you know, the Tree of Life synagogue, speaking with the…”
The synagogue told the NY Post that he hasn't visited in the three years since the attack.https://t.co/PkvVJZMVs9 pic.twitter.com/hmi7xSsFHW
— Carly (@intlcarly) September 3, 2021
Meanwhile, Tree of Life Executive Director Barb Feige told the New York Post Biden had not visited the synagogue at any point since the tragedy.
“In a phone interview, Feige, executive director since July 2019, said firmly that ‘no’ Biden didn’t visit, even before taking office when he had a lower public profile as a former vice president and then-Democratic presidential candidate,” the Post reported.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump visited the synagogue three days after the shooting. His daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner are both Jewish and joined him on the visit.
At the time, the Post reported that demonstrators gathered a few blocks away from the synagogue to protest Trump’s visit. They held signs reading “words matter” and chanted “make America peaceful again,” which seems to imply they held Trump somehow responsible for the actions of the shooter.
It remains to be seen whether leftists will bring the same negative attention to Biden for apparently lying about the tragedy to improve his image. I, for one, will not be holding my breath.
Throughout the first few months of his presidency, Biden has repeatedly shown an inability to display empathy toward those who have lost loved ones. The latest example is his conversation with the families of service members who were killed during his poorly executed withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Shana Chappell, the mother of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikou, expressed her disdain for Biden on Facebook after he met with her to discuss the death of her son in Kabul.
WARNING: The following post contains vulgar language that some readers will find offensive.
“Joe Biden This msg is for you! I know my face is etched into your brain! I was able to look you straight in the eyes yesterday and have words with you. After i lay my son to rest you will be seeing me again!” she wrote.
“Remember i am the one who stood 5 inches from your face and was letting you know i would never get to hug my son again, hear his laugh and then you tried to interrupt me and give me your own sob story and i had to tell you ‘that this isn’t about you so don’t make it about you!!!’”
Jiennah McCollum, the wife of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, was also displeased after her meeting with Biden following her husband’s death.
According to The Washington Post, she said Biden attempted to bring up his late son, Beau, during their meeting. The family said Biden’s discussion of his son’s military career and death from cancer felt disingenuous and that Biden showed “total disregard to the loss of our Marine.”
Biden has repeatedly shown he cannot empathize with families who have experienced tragedy. Instead, he attempts to direct the conversation toward himself and his own struggles, which is completely disrespectful.
If Biden did indeed lie about visiting the Tree of Life synagogue, it is yet another example of his tendency to put himself at the center of every conversation, even if that comes at the expense of dead Americans and their families.