Fox News' Steve Doocy misrepresented President Obama's response to the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya by cherry-picking Obama's comments. Doocy contrasted several out of context quotes from Obama on Libya with aggressive talk about the anti-Islamic film to falsely attack the president as weak in response to the deaths of Americans.
Previewing the final presidential debate, which will focus on foreign policy, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy highlighted two previously debunked attempts to smear Obama's response to the attack. Doocy suggested that the “not optimal” and “bumps in the road” remarks showed Obama's insensitivity regarding the deaths of four Americans. He then attempted to contrast those comments with Obama's strong rhetoric regarding the anti-Islam film asking, “Where was that kind of language regarding the deaths of those four Americans?”
But Fox failed to mention multiple comments made by Obama in response to the attacks that were highly critical of the violence against Americans. In response to the death of U.S. consulate staff in Libya, President Obama condemned the attacks from the White House Rose Garden saying, “there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence” and called on the world to “unequivocally reject these brutal acts.” While discussing the consulate attack, Obama said “no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation”:
No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.
Obama also made a similar statement on the attack during a September 13 campaign stop in Las Vegas, Nevada. There, Obama said, “As for the ones we lost last night: I want to assure you, we will bring their killers to justice. And we want to send a message all around the world -- anybody who would do us harm: No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America.”
That same day in Golden, Colorado, Obama doubled down on these comments: “So what I want all of you to know is that we are going to bring those who killed our fellow Americans to justice. I want people around the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America.”