Is there any question that history is, hands down, Americans’ worst subject? If there was, the reaction to a statement Donald Trump made during a Bloomberg TV interview should put that question to rest.
Host Stephanie Ruhle asks this question of Trump: “Help us understand who Donald Trump is as a man. I need to know that you will make us feel safe, and you will make us feel proud.”
Trump begins his response by saying that he has a bigger heart than the other Republican candidates. Then he says this:
When you talk about George Bush – I mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time.
Ruhle jumps in and says that Trump can’t blame Bush for 9/11. Really? Trump responds, again, accurately:
He was president, OK?’ Blame him or don’t blame him, but he was president. The World Trade Center came down during his reign.”
That 100 percent factual exchange has set off a bit of a firestorm on the right. Bizpac Review’s headline screams: “Trump says World Trade Center came down under George W. Bush’s watch; social media EXPLODES.”
The Right Scoop, that first reported this story on October 16, says, “STUPID: Donald Trump BLAMES GEORGE W. BUSH for the twin towers falling on 9/11.”
First of all, Trump doesn’t actually say that 9/11 was Bush’s fault, even though many agree that the president should have done more after receiving the August 6 Presidential Daily Briefing titled “Bin Laden determined to strike in US.” And there is the fact that President Clinton testified in front of the 9/11 commission that he warned Bush following the 2000 election that Bin Laden would be the biggest security threat to the country.
The Right Scoop tries to make Trump into some sort of conspiracy theorist for his statement. “Most Democrats don’t even blame Bush for 9/11 unless they are crazy conspiracy theorists,” they observe, making the unwritten suggestion that 9/11 was an “inside job” by the Bush administration. But did Trump say anything remotely like that? No.
At least one commenter knew who to blame for the twin towers coming down: Bill Clinton. (Amazingly, nobody seems to blame Obama.)
Clinton said that he could have gotten Bin Laden, but concern over possible civilian casualties made him decide against an attack. And Clinton did launch one attack against Bin Laden; a cruise missile strike against a building that turned out to be a pharmaceutical plant.
“Conservator1’s” defense that Bush had been in office less than a year doesn’t fly, either. Remember a guy named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab? He is better known as the “underwear bomber.” He tried and failed to bring down an airliner on Christmas Day 2009. Who had been in office less than a year at that time? And what did the right have to say about that? It certainly wasn’t “Oh, you can’t blame Obama. He’s been in office for less than a year.”
The right cheered Trump when he was attacking immigrants and Democrats. Now he has set his site on some of their brethren, and they are none too happy. In fact, they are so unhappy that they have to find a way to attack him, even when he is telling the truth.
Here’s what Trump said that has righties so worked up, via YouTube:
Featured image via Bloomberg TV screen capture
George Bush is 100% responsible for 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks and I think a lot of the world knows it
Not only responsible, but he leveraged it to maximum effect into two invasions of sovereign nations and an ongoing invasion of our civil liberties.
Although I doubt if GWB is clever enough to have gotten all of the North American air defenses out of the way in time for the “attack.” GWB was sitting in the chair so the buck stops with him - but he had to have a lot of help getting everything to line up just right.
yeah sitting in a chair in a classroom in florida far far away from any of the obvious targets. isn’t that special.
well, now, to be fair: I feel sure that the boy didn’t know what was going down - that Cheney had kept him in the dark to give him plausible denial. Also, all hands knew the boy is so stupid that anything could fall out of his mouth anytime. The whole thing was carried off without his knowing-except that the expression on his face tells me that he now knew that something had been planned and implemented, and he had been kept in the dark. I also feel sure that he also knew that he wouldn’t survive till dinnertime that night if Cheney’s buddies had decided that was the way it needed to be.
Maybe the reason people are so convinced Obama is going to overthrow the Constitution and become a tyrant is because they’ve convinced themselves he’s been in office for almost 20 years already.
The Donald strays off script into reality, names W as the person who failed on 9/11, rightwing gets fruit-of-the-looms in a collective knot. Not a surprise-these are the same low-info voters who think W found WMD in Iraq. I’m surprised that Trump didn’t realize beforehand how addicted to ‘truthiness’ his acolytes are.
Thank you, Mr. Bad Example.
JEB! 2016 because two towers aren’t enough
Lol
Lol. That slogan should be on a bumper sticker or a shirt.
George.W, was warned by the Phillipine Government about the attack, he and Condi Rice ignored all of the warnings.
oh, and to all those folks who said the iraq invasion was to get saddams WMD,, of COURSE there were weapons of mass destruction in iraq,, as we gave them to saddam years before to fight iran!! i know this personally as i worked with a defense contractor who shipped millions of weapons TO iraq to fight iran,,,
No intercepting fighter jets were engaged. The 3 airliners were off course for hours. Jets should have been scrambled to accompany those flights and forced them off course or shot them down
someday history will look back and see the american citizens of 2001 as the german citizens of 1939.
Could you image what they would have done to President Obama if over 3,000 Americans were killed in a terrorist attack and then a year later a year later some black guy was sniping people off in the DC area? They would crucify him, and there is a chance that it would be literally.
I can’t even imagine what would have gone down!
People are being too hard on Dubya. He was a puppet president after all so put the blame where it belongs… President Cheney.
But, as president, he was SUPPOSED to be smart and in charge and not listen to an a**hole like Cheney.
Conservator also probably believes that Bush 43 can’t be blamed for the September 2008 stock market crash. That’s surely also ultimately Clinton’s fault, just as the economic boom of the 90s must ultimately be credited to Reagan.
Trump lacks Honesty and Integrity. all he wants to do is start trouble and incite one group against another, JUST LIKE OBAMA.
Trump has to dig up issues from 14 years ago cause he cannot address the issues of
today. Its a deflection from his own stupidity to start a meaningless fight
elsewhere