On Tuesday, President Obama appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” to field softball questions from the eponymous host and make the case for his re-election. He discussed a wide array of topics, of course, including his family, the unacceptably high unemployment rate, and the 2012 presidential horse race. What I found particularly interesting, however, was the following sound bite (fast-forward to the 22:25 mark):
“[One] thing I’ve never tried to do is -- and I think none of us can do in public office -- is suggest that because someone doesn’t agree with me that they’re victims, or they’re unpatriotic, or they don’t have a sense of responsibility."
This baffling assertion patently contradicts what Mr. Obama said on the campaign trail in 2008:
“Number 43 added four trillion dollars [to the national debt] by his lonesome…that’s irresponsible, that’s unpatriotic.”
Flashback: This president has added more than five trillion dollars to the national debt in less than four years. That’s a fact. And yet, when he was a fledgling candidate for the nation’s highest political office, he explicitly said it was “unpatriotic” for President George W. Bush to add four trillion dollars to the national debt in eight years. Oh how the times have changed.
(H/T The Right Scoop)
UPDATE - “I don’t remember what the number was precisely.”