We’ve seen some, shall we say, creative attempts to revise history from the Trump camp. But easily the most embarrassing attempt to date has to come from Rudy Giuliani. The man who was the most famous Republican in Manhattan before Donald Trump came along would like you to believe that Islamist terrorists never laid a glove on this country under George W. Bush–only to have all hell break loose under Obama.
While warming up a crowd for a Trump rally in Youngstown, Giuliani lauded Mike Pence for his work on counterterrorism measures while in Congress. He then made the following breathtaking statement.
“By the way, under those eight years, before Obama came along, we didn’t have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attacks in the United States. They all started when Clinton and Obama got into office.”
No, this isn’t snark. Watch here, courtesy WNYW in New York.
Giuliani must have a really short memory. Really, really short. Just seconds before this bit of revisionist history, he applauded Pence for coming to Ground Zero after 9-11.
And yet, mere seconds later, he seemed to claim that 9-11 wasn’t a “radical Islamic terrorist attack on the United States.” Frankly, it would be a little easier to cut Giuliani slack for working hand in glove with Trump in this attempt to rewrite the 21st century if he hadn’t been the mayor of New York City when the planes slammed into the World Trade Center.
It’s not the first time that Giuliani has tried to absolve Bush and blame Obama for Islamist attacks. Back in 2010, Giuliani appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and claimed that Islamists never laid a glove on this country while Bush was in the White House. Media Matters got a clip.
This came just two weeks after “Underwear Bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a plane with explosives hidden in his underwear. Giuliani tried to use this as proof that Obama was a squish on terrorism, saying that “we had no domestic attacks under Bush.” Um, Rudy? Over 2,900 people and their families would beg to differ.
One of those people, social media consultant Gabrielle Laine Peters, let Giuliani have it on Twitter.
SO Angry right now – and as 9/11 survivor I feel I can say this describes Rudy Giuliani pretty well ! pic.twitter.com/WRNHODFEcN
— GabrielleLainePeters (@GabrielleNYC) August 15, 2016
Raw Story got a sample of other reactions from the Twitterverse.
I guess "Never Forget" is negotiable depending on party affiliation.
— Capt. Loadstar (@nicholaslue) August 15, 2016
I think it is official, Giuliani is crazier than Drumpf. https://t.co/RPH52MMH8V
— Melanie ????? (@mlsimmons) August 15, 2016
I think a plane flew into #RudyGiuliani's head.
— Ed the Sock (@EdtheSock) August 15, 2016
Giuliani is one of the few public figures who isn’t on Facebook or Twitter. However, it’s probably just as well, considering the reaming he’s taking.
For the better part of a decade, Giuliani’s refrain has been, in the immortal words of Joe Biden, “a noun, a verb, and 9-11.” Well, after this, Giuliani seems to have taken up the same chorus as other Trump supporters–“noun, verb, blame Obama for anything and everything.”
