Hannity & Colmes guest host Mike Gallagher allowed several claims by retired Lieutenant Colonel John B. “Bill” Calhoun to go unchallenged, despite the discrepancies that undermine Calhoun's account. Calhoun says he served in the Alabama National Guard with President George W. Bush in the summer of 1972 and, therefore, vouches for the president's completion of his duty.

When Gallagher, a nationally syndicated radio host and frequent FOX News Channel contributor, interviewed Calhoun on September 6, he failed to note that the dates Calhoun provided for Bush's service do not match those in the timeline put forth by the White House. Gallagher also ignored the incongruities between Calhoun's assertions that he could not recall “which Bush” he served with in Alabama and, alternately, his claims of a friendly relationship in which the two “would swap 'war stories' and even eat lunch together on base” during that time period. Gallagher also neglected to mention Calhoun's strong Republican partisanship.

Repeating an assertion he has made in the past, Calhoun told Gallagher: "[H]e [Bush] was there from May until about October [of 1972]. I remember the -- May or June. You know, like I said, it's very hard to remember that far back." While Gallagher failed to correct the record, the Houston Chronicle reported on February 14 that documents the White House released in February “indicated Bush's transfer to the Alabama squadron wasn't approved until September 1972, months after Bush's presence as recalled by Calhoun.” According to a February 15 Washington Post article, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan “was at a loss to reconcile the discrepancy” when asked why “Calhoun remembers seeing Bush at Dannelly [Air National Guard Base] at times in mid-1972 when the White House acknowledges Bush was not pulling Guard duty in Alabama yet.”

Calhoun also indicated on Hannity & Colmes that it had been a long time since he had served with Bush, and his memory of their supposed shared duty was cloudy: “For years, I wasn't really sure which Bush was there, because I didn't know the Bush family at all. And I couldn't -- you know, 30 years is hard to remember. But I knew it was the one that was a fighter pilot.” But previous reports of Calhoun's relationship with Bush in Alabama are at odds with his acknowledgment that he didn't recall “which Bush” he had served with. According to a February 14 report by MSNBC, Calhoun has said that he and Bush “would swap 'war stories' and even eat lunch together on base.” On February 15, the Los Angeles Times also noted that Calhoun had mentioned “sometimes” having lunch with Bush. The article said that during his weekend National Guard duty Bush “usually spent his time in Calhoun's upstairs office reading flight magazines and pilot accident reports.”

While Gallagher failed to note his guest's partisanship, the Associated Press, in a February 13 interview, described Calhoun as a “staunch Republican.” And according to the Los Angeles Times, Calhoun claimed he “remembered Bush because he and Bush were the only Republicans in a squadron that otherwise was full of 'George Wallace Democrats,'" and that "'there was some resentment' from other squadron members, who did not like a man coming from Texas and talking Republican politics."