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Who really said it

I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!

Spoken by George W. Bush b. 1946 · 43rd President of the United States (2001–2009)
Verified Free to reuse

An unusual case for a “magnet” name — he really said it. Bush spoke these words extemporaneously through a bullhorn atop the World Trade Center rubble on 14 September 2001, replying to a rescue worker who shouted that he couldn’t hear him. The wording is confirmed in the official White House transcript.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” George W. Bush, bullhorn remarks to rescue workers at Ground Zero, September 14, 2001

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In context

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Provenance

The source

Occasion
“Bullhorn” remarks to rescue workers at Ground Zero
Speaker
President George W. Bush, standing beside retired FDNY firefighter Bob Beckwith
Date
14 September 2001, concluding 4:43 p.m. EDT
Location
World Trade Center site, Murray & West Streets, New York City

America today is on bended knee in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here… [a rescue worker: “I can’t hear you!”] I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! stylized from the official White House transcript

The line was unscripted: aides had prepared brief condolences, but when workers yelled that they couldn’t hear him, Bush answered off the cuff and the site erupted in chants of “U.S.A.!”

White House transcript: “President Bush Salutes Heroes in New York” (14 Sept. 2001)

How we know

Public domain

These are the official remarks of a sitting U.S. President, recorded in a White House press release — a work of the U.S. federal government, which under 17 U.S.C. § 105 carries no copyright and is in the public domain.

Fact-check

A note on wording

The attribution here is genuine — but the popular one-sentence version smooths over how the moment actually unfolded.

The single-sentence quote card compressed

Circulating versions render it as one tidy line. The transcript shows Bush actually said “I can hear you” twice, answering rescue workers who shouted that they couldn’t hear him on the spot, not reading a script.

Exclamation marks stylized

The official White House text uses plain periods; the exclamation points come from how the emotional delivery is usually re-typed. The words themselves are accurate.

The line is authentically George W. Bush’s, spoken through a bullhorn at Ground Zero on 14 Sept. 2001 and preserved in the official transcript.

Context

Why it mattered

Three days after the attacks, Bush toured the still-burning wreckage of the World Trade Center. Aides had planned only a few quiet words of condolence. When workers deep in the pile shouted that they couldn’t hear him, Bush — his arm around retired firefighter Bob Beckwith — abandoned the script and shouted back.

The reply, and the roar of “U.S.A.!” that followed, became the emotional high point of his early presidency and is remembered as the “bullhorn moment.”

“I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you!”

About the bullhorn

The bullhorn Bush used is now a featured artifact in the collection of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Courage Justice

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Official White House transcript (2001)georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov

The primary source: “President Bush Salutes Heroes in New York,” with the verbatim exchange.
9/11 Bullhorn Address (full text)americanrhetoric.com

American Rhetoric’s hosted transcript of the complete bullhorn remarks.
Bullhorn speech transcript & contextspeakola.com

Speakola’s annotated copy of the address with background on the moment.
Bob Beckwithen.wikipedia.org

The firefighter who handed Bush the bullhorn and stood beside him during the remarks.
George W. Bushen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the 43rd U.S. President.

The speaker

Who said it

George W. Bush

b. 1946 · 43rd President of the United States (2001–2009)

George Walker Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. The defining event of his first year was the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks; three days later he visited the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center, where his impromptu bullhorn reply to rescue workers became one of the most recognized moments of his presidency.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

George W. Bush, “President Bush Salutes Heroes in New York” (remarks at the World Trade Center site, New York, N.Y., 14 September 2001), White House Office of the Press Secretary.

MLA (9th ed.)

Bush, George W. "President Bush Salutes Heroes in New York." 14 Sept. 2001, World Trade Center site, New York, NY. White House Office of the Press Secretary, georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-9.html.

APA (7th ed.)

Bush, G. W. (2001, September 14). President Bush salutes heroes in New York [Press release/remarks transcript]. White House Office of the Press Secretary. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-9.html

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-can-hear-you-the-rest-of-the-world-hears-you-and-the

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