Today marks the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which means you can count on politicians of all stripes to issue statements about the event and its meaning.
After noting that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had issued a statement, John Bresnahan, Politico’s Capitol Hill bureau chief, attacked House Speaker John Boehner for issuing a statement about the September 11, 2012, attacks on Benghazi, and ignoring the original 9/11 attacks of 2001.
.@NancyPelosi issues statement commerating 9/11, @SpeakerBoehner has statement commerating Benghazi. Even our terrorist attacks are partisan
John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) September 11, 2015
There’s only one problem with Bresnahan’s sneer about Boehner: the claim isn’t true. In addition to spending a good portion of the morning tweeting his remembrances of 9/11, Boehner also published a video and a short essay about where he was when he first heard about the terrorist attacks:
This is the story of where I was on 9/11.
It’s not remarkable or altogether different from the stories of many Americans. I remember what I was doing when the first plane hit. I remember trying to go about my morning. I remember when everything changed.
My story could be much different, if not for the heroes on Flight 93. We know they saved countless lives and quite possibly the Capitol itself.
They saved us all, really. At the lowest moment in our history, they lived up to our highest ideals. Through tremendous love and sacrifice, they did the unforgettable — as did so many on those three sacred pieces of soil. Now our brave men and women serve in their memory, engaged in the great task of keeping us safe and free.
So our sorrow is still deep, but our faith is deeper still. These are our stories, but this will always be their day.
According to the source code of the page on Boehner’s site, Boehner’s essay and video were published on his web site at 7:02 a.m. Eastern time, more than three hours before Bresnahan, ostensibly a journalist trained to find and report facts, chose to slam Boehner for focusing on Benghazi instead of the 2001 attacks. Boehner’s Benghazi statement, which was limited to a single paragraph, wasn’t posted until after 9:00 a.m.
Boehner also tweeted a series of thoughts and links about 9/11 an hour before Bresnahan insinuated on Twitter that Boehner had done no such thing:
Flags at the @USCapitol have been lowered to half staff in memory of those lost on this harrowing day 14 years ago. pic.twitter.com/dSSojiR6OK
Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) September 11, 2015
It was a harrowing day. #WhereWereYou on #September11?
https://t.co/ZeScRCwqCh
Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) September 11, 2015
Despite being repeatedly corrected on Twitter, Politico’s Bresnahan has yet to note that his partisan attack on Boehner had no basis in fact.
