During the February 1 edition of Fox Business Network's Cavuto, Fox News contributor Dana Perino, while discussing budget deficits and revenue, complained that Democrats “act as if 9-11 never happened.” In November 2009, Perino herself claimed, “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term.”
Perino -- who claimed no terrorist attacks happened under Bush -- accuses Dems of “act[ing] as if 9-11 never happened”
Written by Eric Hananoki
Published
Perino on February 1: Democrats “act as if 9-11 never happened”
Appearing on Cavuto immediately after Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-SC), who said that the Clinton administration left a “surplus that the Bush administration decided to just wither away,” Perino remarked that “I think most American people would listen to the previous guest and just tune out. Absolutely, tune out. It is the same talking point after talking point. They act as if 9-11 never happened.” From Cavuto:
PERINO: And we're either going to pay for it in more taxes or you're going to pay for it in less investment, you're going to pay for it in less jobs. That might be a sacrifice that we should all be willing to make if that is what we decide to do as a country, but this -- I think most American people would listen to the previous guest [Rep. Clyburn] and just tune out. Absolutely, tune out. It is just the same talking point after talking point.
They act as if 9-11 never happened.
CAVUTO: Well, you know, Dana --
PERINO: I'm actually just --
CAVUTO: My point was with 9-11, and with the Internet implosion and what happened when that just crashed because that was a lot of revenue for the government and states and cities and it was all gone when the thing was cut in half, but that was then and this is now and I know people conveniently forget that. And I don't. I remember quite well.
[...]
CAVUTO: Well, I'm just saying for those who bash your old boss and since the president feels obligated to go back in history and remind folks what he inherited, I hope they remember as well what that president had to deal with the early days because I don't think any one would have seen the dimensions of the market implosion, particularly the technology implosion and then this little thing called 9-11. I think we tend to forget some pretty big events.
PERINO: We do forget big events.
Perino in November 2009: “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term”
During the November 24, 2009, edition of Fox News' Hannity, Perino claimed: “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term.” Following her remarks, Perino wrote on her Twitter account: “I obviously meant no terror attack on U.S. post 9/11 during Bush 2nd term.”
Similarly, on the December 27, 2009, edition of CNN's State of the Union, CNN contributor Mary Matalin falsely claimed that Bush “inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history.” In fact, the September 11, 2001, 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.” On Good Morning America, Rudy Giuliani falsely claimed that "[w]e had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama."