President George W. Bush, caught in a controversy last week over campaign ads using images of September 11, 2001, will attend groundbreaking ceremonies for a 9/11 memorial on New York's Long Island on Thursday, then attend a campaign fund-raising event.
Bush will visit East Meadow, New York, for an Eisenhower Park ceremony breaking ground for the Nassau County 9/11 memorial. Nearly 300 people with ties to Nassau County were killed in the attacks that brought down the World Trade Centre towers.
The White House said Bush's attendance at the event was not in response to the controversy that sprang up last week over television advertisements put out by his re-election campaign that showed a blasted World Trade Center tower building behind an American flag and images of fire-fighters carrying a flag-draped coffin.
"This was an invitation that was extended to the president in mid-February," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "The president is honoured to accept the invitation and pay tribute to those who tragically lost their lives on that September day."
Some families of the 9/11 victims and a fire-fighters' association had protested the Bush ads and Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign had accused Bush of exploiting the 9/11 tragedy for political gain.