Quick Fact: On CNN, Matalin falsely claims “Bush inherited” 9-11 attacks and recession

Written by Matt McLaughlin & Ari Rabin-Havt

Published

On the December 27 edition of CNN's State of the Union, Mary Matalin falsely claimed that President George W. Bush “inherited a recession from President Clinton, and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history.” In fact the 9-11 attacks occurred eight months into Bush's presidency and more than a month after he had received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” and the recession began in March 2001.

From the December 27 edition of CNN's State of the Union:

MATALIN: I was there, we inherited a recession from President Clinton, and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history.

Matalin's comments were documented by Think Progress.

Fact: 9-11 attacks occurred 8 months into Bush presidency, after Bush had received memo warning of Al Qaeda's intent to attack

Attacks came eight months after Bush inauguration and more than a month after he had received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” President George W. Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 2001, eight months before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9-11 Commission stated that on August 6, 2001, Bush received a Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” and that Bush “did not recall discussing the August 6 report with the Attorney General or whether [then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice had done so.” The Commission also “found no indication” that Bush's aides further discussed with him “the possibility of a threat of an al Qaeda attack in the United States” prior to 9-11 -- this despite the fact that "[m]ost of the intelligence community recognized in the summer of 2001 that the number and severity of threat reports were unprecedented."

Perino previously stated that “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term.” Matalin's claim about the 9-11 attacks follows former Bush White House Press Secretary Dana Perino's false assertion on the November 24 edition of Fox News' Hannity that “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term.”

Fact: According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, recession began in March 2001 during Bush presidency

NBER determined that recession started exactly 10 years after expansion that began in March 1991, “the longest in the NBER's chronology.” In March 2001, the U.S. economy went into recession for the first time in 10 years, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). NBER -- the private, nonpartisan organization whose business cycle announcements have long been considered the definitive word on the topic -- announced its determination on November 26, 2001:

The NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee has determined that a peak in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in March 2001. A peak marks the end of an expansion and the beginning of a recession. The determination of a peak date in March is thus a determination that the expansion that began in March 1991 ended in March 2001 and a recession began. The expansion lasted exactly 10 years, the longest in the NBER's chronology.