On the June 3 edition of CNN's Inside Politics, CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry echoed right-wing media coverage of progressive financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros's June 3 speech at the Campaign for America's Future "Take Back America" conference, reporting as fact the right-wing talking point that Soros “equated the Iraqi prisoner abuse to the 9/11 attacks.” As Media Matters for America reported on June 4, attacking Soros as a means of discrediting Kerry has become a key strategy of the Republican National Committee. Read Soros's speech here.

From the June 3 edition of CNN's Inside Politics:

HENRY [voiceover]: The left wing has energy and money thanks to billionaire George Soros who has already given $15 million to progressive groups and vowed to spend what it takes to defeat President Bush. Soros was introduced by Hillary Clinton and then issued a call to arms saying his check book alone will not carry Senator John Kerry to victory.

SOROS: Hillary, again, said the right thing. That it isn't one person with money that can make a difference. It can only make a difference if there are people in the country who believe in those ideas and are willing to stand up.

HENRY: Soros, a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust has said that when the president says you're with us or against us, it reminds him of the Nazis and he issued a broad indictment of Bush's national security record.

SOROS: This is a very tough thing to say, but the fact is, that the war on terror as conducted by this administration has claimed more innocent victims than the original attack itself.

HENRY: Soros also equated the Iraqi prisoner abuse to the 9/11 attacks. Republican party chairman Ed Gillespie blasted Soros for making that connection and made it clear that if Democrats take the billionaire's money, they'll have to answer for his opinions.