All that's old is new again over in Fox-land. From this Saturday's Cavuto on Business, Neil Cavuto and his guests Ben Stein, Sandra Smith and Geri Willis all took turns reading from Uncle Rupert's latest set of talking points, pretending that President Obama did not call the shooting in Ottawa an act of terrorism. Benghazi!!! redux here we come.
As Media Matters has documented, they've been at this all week: Conservative Media Use Benghazi Hoax To Attack Obama Over Canadian Parliament Shooting:
Conservative media are invoking one of their favorite Benghazi hoaxes to accuse President Obama of reluctance to characterize the fatal shootings near Canadian Parliament as terrorism, despite the fact that Obama framed it in terms of "terrorism" the day of the shooting, just as he called the Benghazi attacks "acts of terror" the day after the 2012 assault.
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Right-Wing Media Pretend Obama Won't Acknowledge That Canadian Shooting Was Terrorism, Just Like After Benghazi
Fox Correspondent Ed Henry: To Understand White House's Reluctance To Call Shooting Terrorism, "Look Back To Benghazi [Where] The Administration For Days Was Suggesting It Was Not A Terrorist Attack." On the October 22 edition of Hannity, Fox's White House correspondent Ed Henry said that Obama wouldn't definitively call the Canadian shooting a terrorist attack because of their similar response to Benghazi: [...]
Fox Host Andrea Tantaros: "Why Would We Expect President Obama To Call This An Act Of Terror" When He Wouldn't Use That Term To Describe Benghazi? During an October 22 discussion roundly criticizing Obama for supposedly not calling the Canadian shooting incident an "act of terror," Outnumbered co-host Andrea Tantaros claimed there "is an apprehension and hesitancy by this White House to identify your enemy," citing the 2012 Benghazi attacks in Libya
They go onto quote Doocy on Fox & Friends, and Rush Limbaugh on his radio show. To no one's surprise, the right wing pundits are lying once again.
President Obama: "We Have To Remain Vigilant" When "Dealing With These Kinds Of Acts of Senseless Violence Or Terrorism." When asked to address the Canadian shooting on October 22, President Obama referenced terrorism or terrorist activity three different times in connection to the event (emphasis added):
THE PRESIDENT: We don't yet have all the information about what motivated the shooting. We don't yet have all the information about whether this was part of a broader network or plan, or whether this was an individual or series of individuals who decided to take these actions. But it emphasizes the degree to which we have to remain vigilant when it comes to dealing with these kinds of acts of senseless violence or terrorism. And I pledged, as always, to make sure that our national security teams are coordinating very closely, given not only is Canada one of our closest allies in the world but they're our neighbors and our friends, and obviously there's a lot of interaction between Canadians and the United States, where we have such a long border.
And it's very important I think for us to recognize that when it comes to dealing with terrorist activity, that Canada and the United States has to be entirely in sync. We have in the past; I'm confident we will continue to do so in the future. And Prime Minister Harper was very appreciative of the expressions of concern by the American people.
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Q: What does the Canadian attack mean to U.S. security, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we don't have enough information yet. So as we understand better exactly what happened, this obviously is something that we'll make sure to factor in, in the ongoing efforts that we have to counter terrorist attacks in our country. [Whitehouse.gov, 10/22/14]
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