By Louise Boyle
Presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley was heavily criticised this morning after appearing to side with Barack Obama during last night's debate.
CNN's chief political correspondent told Mitt Romney that he was wrong about remarks Obama had made last month in the aftermath of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
During a question about security at the Benghazi consulate, where four American officials were killed, including the ambassador Chris Stevens, on September 11, Obama said he was ultimately responsible as commander-in-chief.
Romney then questioned whether Obama had called the consulate attack an 'act of terror' in his Rose Garden address the following day.
While Obama cut across Romney - saying 'look at the transcript' - Crowley then seemed to back up the President, telling the Republican governor that Obama did 'call it an act of terror'.
Her interjection angered political commentators, who said she had stepped in on behalf of the President.
Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro called the moderator's reactions a 'disgrace' while his colleague John Nolte said Crowley 'lied to save Obama'.
Crowley often struggled to control the candidates as they spoke over each other amid angry exchanges.
During the debatet, Obama said: 'The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror.'
Romney then questioned the veracity of Obama's remarks. He said: 'I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.'
While Romney then continued to question Obama's claims, Ms Crowley interjected:
'He [Obama] did in fact, sir.'
Obama then said: 'Can you say that a little louder, Candy?' to laughter and applause from the audience.
Then rather belatedly, Ms Crowley told Romney: 'He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take - it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that.'
During his Rose Garden address on September 12, the day following the attack in Benghazi, Obama said: '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.'
OBAMA'S ROSE GARDEN SPEECH - YOU DECIDE
[ed. A link of the event for context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nu6VZ9DeVc ]
Last
night's second presidential debate reignited the controversy over
Obama's words following the September 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in
Libya.
The following day, he made this speech from the White House Rose Garden:
'Of
course, yesterday was already a painful day for our nation as we marked
the solemn memory of the 9/11 attacks. We mourned with the families who
were lost on that day. I visited the graves of troops who made the
ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan at the hallowed grounds of
Arlington Cemetery, and had the opportunity to say thank you and visit
some of our wounded warriors at Walter Reed.
'And then last night, we learned the news of this attack in Benghazi.
'As
Americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is only sustained
because there are people who are willing to fight for it, to stand up
for it, and in some cases, lay down their lives for it. Our country is
only as strong as the character of our people and the service of those
both civilian and military who represent us around the globe.
'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.
[ed. No, the NDAA will do that for them...]
'Today
we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United
States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that
justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice
will be done.'
[ed. My interpretation supports this view. They spent a long time talking about the Islamic video as a 'spur of the moment' cause of the attacks (which was an excuse used by them) and none about a dedicated attack by Muslims as part of a protracted war that has been waged for centuries against non-muslims ('terror')...]
[ed. Washington Post Update (12:09 am): Candy Crowley admits she got it wrong and that the
President did not refer to Benghazi as a terror or terroist attack. She
commented, "I think actually, you know, because right after that, I did
turn to Romney and said you were totally correct but they spent two
weeks telling us that this was about a tape and that there was this riot
outside of the Benghazi consulate, which there wasn't. So he was right
in the main, I just think that he picked the wrong word."]
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/conscience-conservative/2012/oct/16/candy-crowley-lies-during-debate-obama-never-said-/The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was a talking point again during Vice President Joe Biden's debate last week.
Biden claimed in the debate with Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan that 'we weren't told' about requests for extra security at the consulate.
On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to come to his defense.
Pushing back against Republican criticism of the Obama administration for its handling of the situation, Clinton said that security at all of America's diplomatic missions abroad is her job, not that of the White House.
She said: 'I take responsibility.... The president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals.'
The Libya question was one moment when Crowley struggled to rein in the debate on Tuesday night.
She failed to shut down both Obama and Romney when they ran over allocated times and attacked each other in angry exchanges.
In her opening statement at the town hall debate in New York, Ms Crowley said: 'Because I am the optimistic sort, I'm sure the candidates will oblige by keeping their answers concise and on point'.
It was revealed from CNN timekeeping on the debate, that Obama had spoke for three extra minutes The President got 44:04 minutes of speaking time, while Romney got 40:50.
Obama and Romney had both revealed their concern over Crowley ahead of tonight's second presidential debate because she was robust in saying beforehand that she would not shirk from guiding the debate.
Lawyers for both Democratic and Republican campaigns complained about comments the CNN journalist made ahead of the town hall-style debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York tonight.
Her job was to referee the two presidential candidates as they answered questions from online viewers and members of the audience.
[ed. And certainly not be a psuedo research assistant to a President in political trouble...]
But in an interview, she indicated that she planned to take a more aggressive stance than the last moderator Jim Lehrer who was roundly criticized for a listless performance and letting Obama and Romney walk all over him.
Where PBS veteran Lehrer said his job was to stay out of the way, Crowley's planning a different set of tactics.
The political correspondent said: 'Once the table is kind of set by the town hall questioner, there is then time for me to say, ''Hey, wait a second, what about x, y, z?'''
Both candidates appeared less than pleased with her remarks - and they weren't the only ones.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has also complained, saying Crowley's remarks are vastly different from the memo that was signed by lawyers for both campaigns.
'In managing the two-minute comment periods, the moderator will not rephrase the question or open a new topic,' the legal document obtained by Time says.
The political heat already facing Ms Crowley shows just how much rests on the second televised debate for both candidates.
[ed. Or shows how much people want, and desperately need, an impartial media...]
President Obama is set to launch an all-out assault on Romney tonight, including attacks on the republican's time at Bain Capital.
He is desperate to pick up momentum and improve poll ratings after his first lackluster first debate when his Republican rival appeared more forceful, energetic and engaging than the President.
Candy Crowley is the first CNN anchor to moderate a general election presidential debate since the 1988 face-off between George HW Bush and Massachusetts Gov Michael Dukakis.
