Media echoed, applauded Giuliani's distortion of Paul's comments about 9-11 attacksMedia MattersMay. 17, 2007 |
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Summary: Several media figures mischaracterized a response that Rep. Ron Paul gave at the Republican debate, with some asserting that Paul had "blamed" the United States for the 9-11 terrorist attacks and others simply accepting Rudy Giuliani's misrepresentation of Paul's statement -- that the United States had "invited the attack." In fact, Paul did not blame the United States for the 9-11 attacks or say that the United States had "invited" them.Covering the May 15 Republican presidential debate at the University of South Carolina, some media figures mischaracterized a response by Rep. Ron Paul (TX), asserting that Paul had "blamed" the United States for the 9-11 terrorist attacks. In other cases, they simply accepted former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's misrepresentation of Paul's statement -- that the United States had "invited the attack." Paul did not blame the United States or say that the United States "invited the attack." He said the attacks were a response to U.S. actions in the Middle East and stressed the importance of understanding the motivations of those who want to attack the United States. Moreover, the media largely ignored Paul's further comments on those remarks after the debate, including his assertion that "Americans didn't do anything to cause" the attacks. During the debate, Paul asserted that terrorists attacked the United States on September 11 "because we've been over there; we've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East." When asked by co-moderator and Fox News White House correspondent Wendell Goler if he was suggesting that "we invited the 9-11 attack," Paul replied: "I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it." Giuliani immediately responded to Paul claiming that what he had said was "an extraordinary statement ... that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq." Giuliani added: "I don't think I've heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th." From the debate: During a postdebate interview, Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Paul: "Are you suggesting the United States of America caused the attack on 9-11?" Paul replied: "No, I think that's a cop-out." Hannity then asked: "Are you suggesting that our policies are causing the hatred of people that would cause them to want to kill us?" Paul responded: "I think it contributes significantly to it, and this is exactly what our CIA tells us. Paul later stated explicitly: "[T]he Americans didn't do anything to cause [9-11]." Yet when describing the confrontation between Paul and Giuliani during the debate, numerous media figures claimed that Paul "blamed" the United States for 9-11 or said that the United States was "responsible" for the attacks, and they made no mention of his subsequent clarification. In addition, some not only accepted Giuliani's interpretation of what Paul said but praised Giuliani's response. For example, on the May 16 edition of CNN's American Morning, Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei said that "Rudy Giuliani came off terrific" during the debate, "mostly because he got that softball, where Ron Paul lobs it to him and basically blames the U.S. for the 9-11 attacks." In response to VandeHei, co-host John Roberts mimicked a baseball swing with his arms and said, "Ron Paul -- lob ball, and boom." VandeHei then concluded: "You dream of those moments when you're a candidate, that's for sure." Later in the program, Roberts said that Paul "did kind of stick his foot in it, though, when he suggested last night that it was U.S. intervention overseas that was responsible for the 9-11 attacks." A May 16 Politico.com report on the debate by Jonathan Martin mentioned the dispute between Paul and Giuliani and uncritically quoted Giuliani campaign manager Mike DuHaime's claim that Giuliani "is not going to sit there and let somebody say that [9-11] was our fault." From Fox News' postdebate coverage: HANNITY: I want to go back to this exchange you had with Mayor Giuliani here for just a second. Are you suggesting the United States of America caused the attack on 9-11?From the May 16 edition of CNN's American Morning: VANDEHEI: I thought Rudy Giuliani came off terrific, mostly because he got that softball, where Ron Paul lobs it to him and basically blames the U.S. for the 9-11 attacks. —B.A. |