Fox Cherry Picks Obama Quotes To Rehabilitate Romney's Claims On Libya

Fox News cherry picked President Obama's comments to try to rehabilitate Mitt Romney's false suggestion during the debate that Obama had not referred to the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya as an act of terror.

On September 12, Obama said: “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America.” Obama also referred to the Benghazi attack as an “act of terror” while campaigning in Colorado on September 13 when he said: “To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished.”

But in a report on Fox & Friends First, national correspondent Steve Centanni ignored Obama's September 13 statement. After airing Obama's September 12 comments, Centanni aired other statements in which the president referenced an anti-Islam video. Based on this skewed record, Centanni concluded that weeks later “the President was still talking about a response to the videos” rather than terrorism.

In addition to cherry picking of Obama comments to hide Obama's repeated reference to terrorism, Centanni's comments about the anti-Islam video is also dishonest.

There is no contradiction between Obama labeling the attack an “act of terror” and him discussing the anti-Islam video. A recent article by The New York Times reported that the consulate assailants said that they were “moved to act because of the video.” Libyans “who witnessed the assault and know the attacks” also said the video was the catalyst for the attack.

Furthermore, State Department security officer Eric Nordstrom testified before Congress that the same extremist group that is suspected of targeting the U.S. consulate in Benghazi had previously attacked a Tunisian consulate in that city over “what they claimed was an anti-Islamic film.”