Welles Crowther was 24 years old when he died saving lives in the South Tower.
He was a stockbroker and volunteer firefighter in Rockland County, New York. On September 11, 2001, he guided dozens of people trapped in the lobby of the 78th floor toward a staircase that was still passable. It is estimated that he saved 18 people before the tower collapsed on him. His body was found six months later. Since then, he has been known as “the man in the red bandana”.
On September 8, at the White House, Donald Trump posthumously presented his family with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It was during that same ceremony that the president said of Crowther: “He has become more famous than me, I don’t like it. Very displeased, but he has become much more famous than me”. Legislators and social media users called the comment disgusting. Someone died saving others, and the president found a way to make the tribute about himself.