PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — 19 years after the attacks of Sept. 11, in an effort to assess the nation’s readiness in the event of another attack on U.S. soil this year, one political scientist is studying the events that have taken place after March 11, 2020.
That was the day the World Health Organization declared a pandemic following the spread of the novel coronavirus.
While much of America united in strength following Sept. 11, 2001, some worry the country’s pandemic response indicates Americans may not show such unity should another tragedy strike.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, in a cloudless sky, the enemy turned three passenger planes into weapons. We stood in shock as the nation was at war and then we stood together to take down terrorist Osama Bin Laden and his network. Could the nation today under the leadership of President Donald Trump respond and defeat a similar enemy? Virginia Republicans and Democrats say yes.
“After 911 we were not Democrats or Republicans, we were Americans first and foremost,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. On the morning of the attack, Warner, a Democrat, was on the campaign in the race for Governor.
On the morning of Sept. 11, Congressman Rob Wittman, who represents Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, was an employee of the Virginia Health Department where he worked as an environmental health specialist.
“There are certain things that divide us today, but as we saw on 9/11, there is a greater sense of who we are as a nation that united us,” said the Republican.
Christopher Newport University’s Dr. Quentin Kidd has a different perspective.
“I just don’t know if another … terrorist attack like 2001 happened. I think we are so divided socially — we are so divided politically — there are such fractures in society now that I really worry that we could come together and rally around a president and a nation.”
Kidd calls the president’s pandemic response instructive.
“We can take COVID-19 as an example of how difficult it is for the government to respond to a terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11, ” said Kidd.
Critics say inaction from the president and misinformation have exacerbated the toll the pandemic is taking on the nation.
Wittman encourages his constituents to rely on science.
“I look at it from my standpoint as a public health professional and the things that I have communicated throughout the district in making sure folks understand the nature of the disease,” said Wittman.
