So, Was Candy Crowley Wrong On Obama’s Libya Remarks?
Was Candy Crowley wrong last night in her assertion that the President had indeed referred to the attack in Benghazi that left four Americans dead as “terror”? Depending on who you ask, the answer changes.
Allegations that Candy Crowley was both wrong and influenced the debate’s outcome have been slung from the right all morning as America wakes up, checks in online, and weighs in on Twitter.
And, indeed, whether or not Candy Crowley was wrong in her assertion, the exchange proved to be both the most memorable of the debate as well as a large blow for Romney during the live fact-check.
As we reported last night, Candy Crowley, the debate’s moderator, halted Romney in his tracks as he tried to claim that President Obama hadn’t labeled the attack to be an act of terror. (Why nomenclature is so important to Romney remains to be seen.)
Romney was stunned when Crowley almost immediately interrupted, saying:
“He did in fact call it an ‘act of terror.’ “
What Obama did say in remarks made in the White House Rose Garden following the attacks was:
“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.”
President Obama interrupted Gov. Romney to assert that he’d made the comment, and, when Candy Crowley confirmed he had, Obama quipped:
“Can you say that a little louder?”
So, was Candy Crowley “wrong,” as many on the right are crowing this morning? The moderator herself stopped by CNN after the debate to expound upon why she stepped in to correct Romney and to clarify her intercedence. Crowley said:
“I heard the president speak at the time. I, sort of, reread a lot of stuff about Libya because I knew we’d probably get a Libya question so I kind of wanted to be up on it … I knew that the president had said, you know, these acts of terror won’t stand. Or, whatever the whole quote was.”
Crowley continues:
“Right after that I did turn around and say, but you’re totally correct that they spent two weeks telling us this was about a tape and that that there was this riot outside the Benghazi consulate which there wasn’t … He was right in the main, I just think he picked the wrong word.”
So, while Candy Crowley was not wrong, it also seems Mitt Romney picked an unwise hill to die on during last night’s debate.
