Tue, Jun 15, 2004 10:57am ET

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O'Reilly forgot his own lie about Soros; told another about Kennedy

While apparently forgetting his earlier false statement that progressive financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros had said that "Abu Ghraib is worse than 9/11," FOX News Channel host Bill O'Reilly falsely asserted that Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was "worse" than 9/11. O'Reilly made the false accusation during a June 10 discussion with FOX News Channel political analyst and author Dick Morris.

From the June 10 edition of FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor:

MORRIS: Who's the guy that drew a metaphor between the prison abuse and 9/11, between sexual humiliation and 3,100 people being killed?

O'REILLY: Was that Kennedy? That was Kennedy. Kennedy said it was worse. Something like that, Ted Kennedy yes.

While Kennedy has made no such remarks, O'Reilly's accusation against Kennedy is nearly identical to a false accusation O'Reilly made of Soros. As Media Matters for America noted, on June 3, O'Reilly falsely claimed that Soros had said that "Abu Ghraib is worse than 9/11" in a June 3 speech at the Campaign for America's Future "Take Back America" conference. The text of Soros's speech reveals that Soros said no such thing.

—G.W.

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