'Suffering From Dementia': Trump Slammed by Governor Over Disputed 9/11 Firefighter Rescue Claims

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker challenged President Donald Trump's 9/11 firefighter rescue claim during an appearance on MS Now, where he also questioned the president's mental fitness and alleged he was 'suffering from dementia'.

His criticism followed Trump's remarks at the Tunnel to Towers Foundation's Steel Across America event on the Ellipse in Washington on Tuesday, 8 September, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

Trump said that during a visit to Lower Manhattan after the attacks, two firefighters lifted him and began carrying him away because of fears that a nearby building might collapse.

Pritzker rejected the Trump 9/11 firefighter rescue claim as untrue, calling him a 'persistent liar and a narcissist' while arguing that the account reflected a broader pattern of behaviour he considered troubling.

Pritzker Challenges Trump 9/11 Firefighter Rescue Claim

Pritzker said Trump's public appearances had changed markedly since his first presidential campaign in 2015. 'You could disagree with him back then, but he didn't sound truly out of his mind. Now he does, and of course, he's making this [9/11 claim] up,' he said.

Pritzker did not cite medical evidence for the allegation, which should be treated as his assessment rather than an established diagnosis.

Pritzker also argued that voters were increasingly judging Trump through their own household costs, pointing to spending on groceries, fuel and farming. He said people could 'see that Donald Trump has been bad for them, and they want something different'.

He returned repeatedly to the 9/11 account, describing the story as one of the larger falsehoods he believes Trump has told. 'The history shows that the story he just told is absolutely untrue,' Pritzker said, before arguing that the episode showed why, in his view, Trump should not be president.

Pritzker characterised the latest assertions as 'whoppers', saying Trump was 'truly making things up that we all know are absolutely untrue'.

He argued that the public could distinguish between the president's description of events and the historical record, and linked that criticism to his call for stronger congressional scrutiny during the remainder of Trump's term.

Pritzker also referred to the president's authority over nuclear weapons. He said Congress needed to 'stand up to him and push back', while also seeking to avoid new wars and 'calm the waters'.

Pritzker noted that there were roughly 28 months remaining in Trump's presidency and called for lawmakers to keep him 'in check'.

Trump 9/11 Firefighter Rescue Claim Draws Fresh Scrutiny

Trump's statement at the commemoration offered a more detailed version of an account he had previously given about his movements after the attacks. He said firefighters grabbed him and carried him away because of concern that another building nearby might collapse.

After the controversy, Trump shared footage of himself speaking to reporters in the aftermath of the attacks. The material provided does not establish that the footage shows the rescue he described at the Washington event.

Trump later shared archival footage showing him in Lower Manhattan after the attacks and maintained that his account was accurate. The earliest publicly documented images place him near Ground Zero on 13 September 2001, but the footage does not independently verify his claim that two firefighters lifted him and carried him away from a building feared to be at risk of collapse.

The disagreement now centres on two separate questions. One is what Trump did in Lower Manhattan following the attacks. The other is whether firefighters ever physically carried him to safety as he described at the anniversary ceremony.

No publicly identified firefighter or contemporaneous evidence corroborating the specific rescue has emerged in the reporting reviewed.

Pritzker rejected Trump's account as untrue and used the episode to question the president's credibility and fitness for office.

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to circulate footage from the period, placing renewed attention on what can be independently established about his movements and role after September 11.