On Monday, President Joe Biden not only failed to speak at one of the memorial ceremonies on the 22nd anniversary of where the attacks occurred, he also told one of his tall tales, claiming he was at Ground Zero on September 12, 2001. In the process, it appears the president also managed to plagiarize Hillary Clinton, who as a senator from New York at the time, had been there the day after. Guy addressed these claims on Tuesday, but it turns out he's not the only one to have done a fact-check.
"Each of us--each of those precious lives stolen too soon when evil attacked. Ground Zero in New York, I remember standing there the next day and looking at the building. I felt like I was looking through the gates of hell, it looked so devastating because of the way you could--where--from where you could stand," Biden had said as part of his remarks at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
Did he just poach this memory and description from Hillary Clinton, who actually was there on 9/12/01? Or was he referring to his memory from a week later — the timeline of which he’s misremembered/repackaged for greater emphasis? https://t.co/9JZfMEej9x pic.twitter.com/sr1pM1zXmt
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 11, 2023
CNN's Daniel Dale, who has shied away from fact-checking the president in the past, despite that being his job description, was forced to address Biden's claims.
On Tuesday, "CNN News Central" played the clip of Biden's remarks in question, with host Brianna Keilar pointing out "that's not actually true," as she asked Dale "when did Biden actually visit Ground Zero?"
As Dale explained, that would be on September 20, 2001, nine days later. He went as part of a bipartisan delegation of senators, with Biden serving as a senator from Delaware at the time. "I asked the White House last night about this claim. They provided a photo of him there on September 20th, reiterated that he was there that day. I think some people might say, okay, you know, he was there," Dale continued. "It's just days, a matter of days later. Maybe he forgot. And maybe he forgot."
"But look, it's 9-11. It's sensitive. He's speaking to military and first responders. So, I think the facts matter," the fact-checker pointed out in actually fact-checking the White House as he explained why the claim can't just be easily dismissed.
CNN's Daniel Dale actually does a fact check:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 12, 2023
Q: "When did Biden actually visit Ground Zero?"
DALE: "Nine days after the attack ... it's 9/11, it's sensitive, he's speaking to military and first responders — so I think the facts matter." pic.twitter.com/7UoYpr7ONY
Dale also published a fact-check to the CNN site in which he actually dug deeper into the issue, adding a section on how this was "Another false claim about his own past." In it, Dale noted that "[a]s president, though, [Biden] has repeatedly made false claims about his past." Dale included 10 examples, including three made in one speech last month about a 2022 Pittsburgh bridge collapse.
When it comes to the administration's response, that responsibility has fallen to Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby. Unlike Dale, however, Kirby has tried to shrug it off. This includes when speaking to Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Tuesday's episode of "The Story."
MacCallum had asked "why did [Biden] say he was there the next day, because he wasn't there the next day," to which Kirby downplayed the false claim the president mentioned on the 22nd anniversary. "Oh, he went about a week or so after the attacks, with other members of Congress, to see Ground Zero for himself and have a chance to talk and thank the first respondents."
Making a further excuse for the president, Kirby continued to dismiss the falsehoods. "He just attributed the visit a little earlier, uh, in the remarks than what had actually occurred. But he was there! He did go to Ground Zero," Kirby insisted.
When asked directly if the president's claim from Monday was "a mistake," Kirby found himself unable to provide a director answer as he stumbled through a response. "He attributed the visit to a time which was actually turned out to be about a week after the attack."
Kirby couldn't even get the correction right, though, as it was more than a week later.
When confronted about Hillary Clinton's comments, Kirby insisted it was a coincidence, as MacCallum had offered as an option. "Because it looked like the gates of hell," Kirby said, quoting the same exact words that both Clinton and Biden used. "He described it in the way that he--he remembered it. It looked like the gates of hell, and I think anybody that saw the images that day would have to agree that that's exactly what it looked like."
John Kirby: Joe Biden "went [to Ground Zero] about a week or so after the [9/11] attacks...but he was there!"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 12, 2023
Kirby also insists that it was only a coincidence that Joe Biden described the scene at Ground Zero using the exact same words that Hillary Clinton did. pic.twitter.com/4p43nF0PfS
Kirby was also asked about the president's incorrect dates during Wednesday's White House press briefing, during which he gave very similar responses, using that response that Biden was speaking about an event he participaed in "about a week or so after the event."
When speaking about what Biden experienced, about "what that looked and what that smelled, and what that felt like" at Ground Zero, adding "it had a visceral impact on him, as it did so many other Americans on that terrible day."
While many Americans certainly did experience "a visceral impact" in response to 9/11, not many can be accused of saying they went to Ground Zero sooner than they did, or of plagiarizing the words of a senator from New York who went before that bipartisan Congressional visit.
John Kirby on Joe Biden lying about being at Ground Zero on the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 13, 2023
"He did participate in [a visit to Ground Zero]...about a week or so after the event, and what that looked and what that smelled, and what that felt like!" pic.twitter.com/BMCJx9e926
Biden's move as the first president not to commemorate the anniversary at one of the three sites is not the only way in which he offended family members of the victims. He made the stop upon returning home from an international trip to India for the G20 and then to Vietnam. Biden didn't even stick to commemorating the tragedy of 9/11 in his remarks in Anchorage, as he also discussed those trips in addition to starting off his remarks by cracking jokes.
Fox News' Peter Doocy was also provided with perhaps the most nonsensical response we've heard yet from this administration. As Doocy, explained, when he had asked why Biden was missing commemorations at the attack sites, "the analogy that I was given is, 22 years after Pearl Harbor, presidents were not still going to visit Hawaii."
To add insult to injury, the Biden administration on Monday also announced that $6 billion was being released to Iran in exchange for Iran agreeing to release five prisoners. Kirby also stuck to defending the release throughout Wednesday's press briefing.
Biden begins his 9/11 remarks with a joke that he "could have been an all-American" in his "high school ball club."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 11, 2023
pic.twitter.com/Mu7gcSS1tP
Join the conversation as a VIP Member