CNN's Schneider falsely claimed increase in those who blame Clinton for 9-11

On the September 11 edition of CNN Newsroom, senior political analyst Bill Schneider falsely claimed that a newly released CNN poll found that more Americans are willing to blame former president Bill Clinton for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks than they were in 2001. In fact, the poll showed just the opposite -- the number of people who blamed Clinton went down from 45 percent to 41 percent.

Schneider reported: "A year after the attacks, 32 percent said they blamed President Bush a great deal or a moderate amount for the attacks. But that number has now gone up to 45 percent." CNN flashed a graphic showing that, according to the new poll, conducted August 30-September 2, the percentage of Americans who blame the Bush administration for 9-11 had increased from 32 percent to 45 percent since 2002:

Schneider then claimed: "But it is indeed a more partisan era, and so the willingness to blame President Bush has gone up, as well as the willingness to blame President Clinton. As you know, that's the subject of a controversy involving an ABC television movie." Schneider was apparently referring to The Path to 9/11, a "docudrama" miniseries that contains numerous falsehoods and distortions, as Media Matters for America has documented. Schneider continued: "But if you see here, 41 percent of Americans say they think that the Clinton administration deserves at least some of the blame." CNN then showed a graphic that displayed results from the new CNN poll, but not the numbers from the 2001 polling:

In fact, as the poll analysis on CNN.com noted:

The latest poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, found that 41 percent of respondents blamed his administration a "great deal" or a "moderate amount" for the attacks.

That's only slightly less than the 45 percent who blamed his administration in a poll carried out less than a week after the attacks.

From the September 11 edition of CNN Newsroom:

BETTY NGUYEN (anchor): And looking at all of it, the question is: Who are Americans blaming for this?

SCHNEIDER: Well, of course we're in a very partisan and a very polarized political environment. That wasn't the case immediately after 9-11. For a year, the country was united. Even a majority of Democrats supported President Bush. A year after the attacks, 32 percent said they blamed President Bush a great deal or a moderate amount for the attacks. But that number has now gone up to 45 percent. Why? Well, President Bush's popularity has declined. More people are willing to criticize a president they no longer like. But also, there were congressional investigations that uncovered some damaging information about briefings that the president received even month before the 9-11 attacks.

But it is indeed a more partisan era, and so the willingness to blame President Bush has gone up, as well as the willingness to blame President Clinton. As you know, that's the subject of a controversy involving an ABC television movie. But if you see here, 41 percent of Americans say they think that the Clinton administration deserves at least some of the blame. Not quite as high as President Bush, but Americans are willing to blame -- really a lot of Americans, not most -- are willing to blame either President Bush or President Clinton.

—S.S.M.