Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Vice President Mike Pence, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, all masked, joined New York`s somber 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center.

Biden and Pence, both masked, bumped elbows in greeting, one of the many ways the anniversary ceremony has been changed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 190,000 people in the United States.

About 200 people joined the New York ceremony, where the names were read out of the nearly 3,000 people killed when two hijacked jets slammed into the Twin Towers, with a third hitting the Pentagon and a fourth taken down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania when its passengers rose up against the al Qaeda hijackers.

Prior to boarding a plane from his Delaware home, Biden pledged not to make any news during the solemn day.

"I`m not going to talk about anything other than 9/11. We took all our advertising down. It`s a solemn day, and that`s how we`re going to keep it, okay?" Biden said.

The sun struggled to pierce hazy clouds in New York, a contrast with the 2001 morning of the attacks, which people present that day remember for its piercing, clear skies.

Later in the day, the Bidens will visit the Shanksville site to pay their respects to the victims. The two candidates are not expected to cross paths in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that is vital to the Nov. 3 election between Trump and Biden.

Trump visited Shanksville for the 9/11 anniversary in 2018 and has attended memorial ceremonies at the Pentagon.

Biden went to memorials in Shanksville during his years as vice president under Barack Obama.

Biden`s campaign said it was pulling its television ads off the air on Friday.

Source: Reuters