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Rudy Giuliani Claims There Were No Successful Terror Attacks Before Obama, Critics Remind Him About 9/11

Never forget. The internet is outraged after Rudy Giuliani, who served as New York City mayor during 9/11, said that there were no successful terrorist attacks on U.S. soil before President Barack Obama took office in 2008.

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“Before Obama came along, we didn’t have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attacks inside the United States. They all started when [Hillary] Clinton and Obama got into office,” Giuliani, 72, said at a Donald Trump campaign event in Ohio on Monday, August 15. 

Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani speaks during a campaign event for the 2016 Republican presidential nominee in Youngstown, Ohio, U.S., on Aug 15, 2016.

The Republican politician — who was mayor of New York from 1994 to 2001, including the day when two planes crashed into the Twin Towers and killed more than 3,000 — was heavily criticized on social media for his comment, which seemed as if he momentarily forgot about the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. 

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One tweeter wrote, “Disgusted that Rudy Giuliani is so anti-Obama that he is willing to dishonor the memory of those lost during 9/11. He of all people knows better.”

Others argued that the comment was taken out of context since Giuliani had referenced both the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center just seconds before making the apparent gaffe. 

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“Remember: We didn’t start this war; they did. We don’t want this war; they do. And they didn’t start it even in 2001. They attacked the World Trade Center in 1993,” Giuliani said.

“[Mike Pence was] a member of the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committee during the time of September 11, when we went through the worst foreign attack in our history since the War of 1812,” he continued, referencing GOP presidential candidate Trump’s VP pick. “Mike Pence understands [the threat of terrorism] from his time both on the Foreign Affairs Committee, from his very, very timely visits, which I remember, to Ground Zero. When we were in desperate need of help, he was there.”

A spokesman for Giuliani later clarified to the Associated Press that the former mayor was referring to a lack of major attacks following 9/11 during the rest of George W. Bush’s term as president. 

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