NEW YORK – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump shook hands on Wednesday and stood with thousands at Ground Zero in New York City to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The light-hearted exchange against the backdrop of tragedy came hours after Trump and Harris exchanged barbs onstage at their first presidential debate in Philadelphia. President Joe Biden and Trump’s running mate JD Vance joined their political partners, as did Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The ceremony commemorated the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Many of the victims died in the attacks on the World Trade Center, and the names of all the victims were read during the ceremony Wednesday morning.

TOPSHOT – US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) shakes hands with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R), while former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg (C) and US President Joe Biden

Regardless of the campaign calendar, memorial organizers have long sought to focus on the victims. For years, politicians have been mere observers at Ground Zero memorials, with the microphone instead taken over by relatives who read the victims’ names aloud.

Biden, the last 9/11 of his term and likely his 50-year political career, was later scheduled to join Harris for ceremonies in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, the three sites where commercial airliners crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, after being taken over by al-Qaeda members. Trump was also scheduled to appear at the Flight 93 National Memorial near rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

As the complex legacy of 9/11 continues to evolve, communities across the country have developed memorial traditions ranging from wreath-laying to flag-raising, from protest marches to police radio calls, and volunteer projects to mark the anniversary, which Congress has designated as both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report