Transcript Trutherism Jumps To Fox's “Straight News”

Fox correspondent John Roberts claimed that “it's unclear” whether President Obama was referencing the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, when he spoke of “acts of terror” in a speech on September 12, even though Obama was making the speech only because of the attack.

During the October 16 presidential debate, Mitt Romney denied the fact that Obama called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror on September 12. As transcript of the speech shows, on September 12 in the Rose Garden, Obama said of the Benghazi attack, “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. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America.”

On the very next day, September 13, Obama again called the Benghazi attack an “act of terror” while speaking in Colorado: “So what I want all of you to know is that we are going to bring those who killed our fellow Americans to justice. I want people around the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished.”

Still, right-wing media have pushed the transcript-truther line, claiming that despite this evidence, Obama never called the Benghazi attack an act of terror.

Today, the transcript trutherism moved on to one of Fox's “straight news” programs, America's Newsroom. After airing video of the candidates sparring over Libya during the debate, Roberts said, “So what was it that the president actually said at the Rose Garden on the 12th of September? He said, 'No act of terror -- acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation.' ” Roberts then claimed, “But that came at the end of his remarks, and it's unclear, at least in many people's minds, whether that was a direct reference to the attack on the Benghazi consulate.”

In fact, Obama spoke in the Rose Garden on September 12 solely to address the attacks on the Benghazi consulate. The White House transcript of the speech is titled “Remarks by the President on the Deaths of U.S. Embassy Staff in Libya.”