Vance ‘really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden’ at 9/11 ceremony

Vice President Vance on Thursday quipped he was “really looking forward” to seeing former President Biden at a New York City memorial service marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“As you can probably guess, I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden,” Vance said during a press briefing.

“I’m sure that we’ll have many, many intense intellectual conversations, and you know, it’ll be great. We’ll have a great time with Joe Biden and the other presidents,” he added, while laughing.

In addition to Biden, former Presidents Obama, Clinton and George W. Bush are expected to attend the Ground Zero ceremony, according to NewsNation. Former first ladies Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton are also anticipated to be in attendance, The New York Times reported .

Sept. 11 will mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, which killed 2,977 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on board a hijacked United Airlines plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.

The vice president was also asked by a reporter about why he and not President Trump was going to the New York ceremony.

The question followed reporting from The New York Times last week that the president decided not to attend the memorial service, partly because the event’s organizers denied his request to give a speech. The ceremony has barred political speeches since 2012.

Trump strongly refuted the reporting, calling it “more Corrupt News” in a Truth Social post.

“I’ve been to New York many times over the years, and no one ever speaks, it’s a ‘solemn ceremony!’” he wrote, adding that he would “love not to speak, because I’m speaking all the time.”

The president is expected to attend a memorial service at the Pentagon on this year’s anniversary, while Vance will represent the White House at the New York event.

Vance said the decision about who attended which event was “decided as a team.”

“I will say, as much as it’s tragic — and it was a terrible day — I am looking forward to it because it’s such an amazing honor to be able to get to go to New York and to share in that moment where the parents and the kids read the names of the people who lost their lives,” he added.