In Synagogue Comments, Trump Misspeaks on 9/11

The show went on for President Trump in the wake of Saturday's mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, with the president attending two campaign rallies in Indiana and Illinois in the hours afterward. Appearing leery of campaigning in the wake of a tragedy, Trump made two references to the nation soldiering on in the wake of 9/11—both of which were incorrect, writes Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post in what he writes "will be a very short fact check." What Trump said:

• In Indianapolis: "I remember when we had the attack in Manhattan, we opened the stock exchange the next day. People were shocked."

• And in Murphysboro, Ill.: "With what happened early today, that horrible, horrible attack in Pittsburgh, I was saying maybe I should cancel both this and that. And then I said to myself, I remembered Dick Russell, a friend of mine, great guy, he headed up the New York Stock Exchange on September 11th, and the New York Stock Exchange was open the following day. ... We can’t make these sick, demented, evil people important."
• Also in Murphysboro: "Remember the teams, the Yankees, George Steinbrenner. He said we have got to play, even if nobody comes, nobody shows up, we have got to play."

In reality, Kessler writes, the NYSE was closed from Sept. 11, 2001, until Sept. 17, in the exchange's longest shutdown since 1933. Dick Russell was actually Dick Grasso, and MLB also shut down for the week following the attacks, also reopening on Sept. 17, 2001.