Trump rally features emotional moments with 9/11 hero’s mom and grieving mother

Announcing posthumously awarding Crowther’s bravery, the President brought up Welles' mother, Alison Crowther, who addressed the pro-Trump crowd momentarily, describing the award bestowed on her son as a "huge honor." “Boy, what bravery, saved those people and became a legend in a sense, nobody else would have done what he did. So he's going to be getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” he noted.

Addressing a crowd cheering for her son, Alison noted that she has travelled the world telling her son's story to places as far away as Jordan.  "It's such a beautiful thing that even 25 years later, Welles' light still shines brightly," she said. The mother remarked that in these travels, when she tells children Welles' story, "They're tremendously moved and inspired ... to be better people."

As the rally grew more emotional, Trump paused to honor slain Sheridan Gorman, bringing her grieving family onto the stage before a roaring crowd and handing them the microphone to share the pain, loss, and lasting scars left behind by her killing. Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student, was shot and killed by Jose Medina, 25, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, on March 19 when she was walking along a lakefront pier at Tobey Prinz Beach with a group of friends.

Sheridan Gorman's mother, Jessica Gorman, said her daughter's life was "stolen" by someone who should never have been in the United States. "At every step, the system had a chance to stop him. At every step, it failed. And my daughter paid for those failures with her life," the grieving mother said, adding, "No mother should ever have to wonder if her child called out for her in her final moments. No mother should ever have to imagine her baby left alone and bleeding on the cold pavement, and no family should ever have to bury a child because public officials failed to put innocent American lives first."

President Trump, on Friday, was in high spirits when he took the stage in Rockland County to boost Representative Mike Lawler. He hit many familiar notes, boasting about his domination of political enemies in Republican primaries, criticizing transgender athletes and dancing to “Y.M.C.A.,” which he claimed endeared him to L.G.B.T.Q. voters.