Rudy Giuliani appears to have forgotten the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 ever happened.
In a recent event supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Ohio, Giuliani blamed President Obama for the Islamic-backed terror attacks that happened within our nation in the past eight years.
As reported on CNN, Giuliani said “Before Obama came along, we didn’t have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack inside the United States. They all started when (Hillary) Clinton and Obama got into office.”
However, Giuliani was mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, including 9/11 when the World Trade Center’s twin towers were attacked. Members of the radical Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked commercial airlines off the east coast, and flew them into buildings in New York City, Washington D.C., and rural Pennsylvania.
At the end of the day, almost 3,000 Americans perished in the attacks.
So, why did Giuliani forget this important day in American history during his speech?
Well, he says he was misunderstood. Just seconds before the remark, Giuliani referred to the attacks twice while promoting the foreign affairs experience of vice presidential candidate Mike Pence. He recalled how Pence visited New York City days after the attack while he was serving as a congressman for Indiana.
ABCNews reports Giuliani adding,
“[Pence was] a member of the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committee during the time of Sept. 11, when we went through the worst foreign attack in our history since the War of 1812. Mike Pence understands [the threat of terrorism] from his time both on the Foreign Affairs Committee, from his very, very timely visit, which I remember, to ground zero. When we were in desperate need of help, he was there.”
Giuliani claims he used “abbreviated language” in order to save time during the speech. His comments received immediate backlash on social media and caused many to compare his remarks to Donald Trump’s comments in February, which questioned President George Bush’s connection to 9/11.
Nevertheless, Giuliani’s thoughts on terror attacks struck a nerve within the American people. Just in the past year alone, there have been numerous radical Islamic terrorist attacks throughout the world, most notably the three in France that led to the deaths of American tourists. This fear has led to declining tourism rates on a global stage, as 48% of Americans surveyed by the U.S. Travel Insurance Association said they are more concerned now than in the past about traveling abroad.