In the moments before President Donald Trump was set to commemorate the 18th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, his mind was decidedly elsewhere.

“If it weren’t for the never ending Fake News about me, and with all that I have done (more than any other President in the first 2 1/2 years!), I would be leading the “Partners” of the LameStream Media by 20 points. Sorry, but true!” he tweeted at 8:19 a.m. ET Wednesday after complaining about polling in Tuesday night’s special election in North Carolina.