Oliver North: "Every terrorist" wants Kerry to win

As a guest on the June 8 radio broadcast of The Sean Hannity Show -- which was broadcast live from the 2004 Sean Hannity Freedom Concert in Jackson, NJ -- FOX News Channel host Oliver North did not mince words in his effort to link Senator John Kerry (D-MA) to terrorists.

From the June 8 edition of The Sean Hannity Show:

NORTH: Every -- every terrorist is hoping John Kerry gets elected. I'll say it. Every terrorist out there is hoping John Kerry is the next president of the United States.

As Media Matters for America has noted on several occasions, the speculation that terrorists would prefer Kerry to be president -- while propagated by some in the mainstream media -- is utterly unfounded.

It does, however, build upon speculation by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice in April and, more recently, by President George W. Bush, both of whom have suggested that terrorists might attack in the United States to affect the outcome of the November presidential election. (Some believe the terrorists' actions in Spain altered the outcome of the election held there three days later, in which the country's pro-Bush prime minister was voted out of office.)

In fact, the theory that terrorists have a preference for Kerry in November runs counter to a March 17 Reuters report that suggests precisely the opposite: In a statement issued by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which took responsibility for the Madrid bombings and claims to have links to al Qaeda, the group voiced its support for the reelection of President Bush, who, according to the statement, "deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."

—J.C.