The photograph in question is authentic, but was taken days after the attack, on Sept. 14, 2001, by the president's chief photographer.
In September 2024, an image of George W. Bush "flying over 9//11" in Manhattan — meaning Ground Zero of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center — was posted to Reddit claiming it was an authentic depiction of the former U.S. president reacting to seeing the wreckage from above.
The post collected 96,000 upvotes as of this writing.
(The_sped-kid08 on Reddit)
The same image spread on social media in July 2024 via a post on X.
The most upvoted comment on the active r/pics thread said: "After 23 years, I thought I've seen so many famous 9/11 photos. Never seen this one until today."
But some Reddit users pointed out the title of the post was misleading. One said: "He's flying over the ruins of the World Trade Center, not 'over 9/11.'"
Indeed, the image in question was miscaptioned but authentic. Photographer Eric Draper captured the image aboard Marine One on Sept. 14, 2001, as Bush left New York City for Washington, D.C.
According to the photographer's biography page: "Draper served as President Bush's chief photographer for the entire eight years of his presidency, photographing him daily in his activities at the office, abroad and in his personal life. Draper was named Special Assistant to the President, and is the first White House photographer to be named a commissioned officer to a U.S. president."
The in-question image with proper captioning is available to view on Draper's website.
A different image of Bush, along with former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki, flying over the wreckage on the same day, was available on Getty Images. Based on the daylight seen in the Getty photo, it appeared to be taken earlier than the photo posted to Reddit.
(Getty Images)
Snopes has fact-checked many claims pertaining to 9/11 over the years, including the urban legend about Nostradamus predicting the attacks, a leaseholder allegedly taking out "terrorism insurance" two months before the attack, and Donald Trump bragging about having the tallest building in Manhattan following the collapse of the World Trade Center.