Fox Omits The Facts To Politicize 9-11 Moment Of Silence

KEVIN ZIEBER/Media Matters for America

Fox ignored history and President Obama's own words to attack the president for not including the word God in a proclamation commemorating the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson claimed that Obama has "called for a moment of silence, but has not called for the word God. So some people are asking, why is God being left out again?" Later, her colleague Steve Doocy said: "On this most somber of days, get this. Does the President of the United States call on people to pray for those lives lost? No."

Fox was referring to a presidential proclamation declaring September 11, 2012, to be Patriots Day. But the reality is that President Obama followed the example of President George W. Bush who did not include the word God in his 2006, 2007, and 2008 Patriot Day proclamations.

Furthermore, Obama called on "God's grace" and asked people to pray for the lives lost in a separate official proclamation declaring the days between September 7 and September 9 as national days of prayer and remembrance in commemoration of the September 11 terrorist attacks:

Eleven years ago, America confronted one of our darkest days. The events of September 11, 2001, brought collapsing towers in Manhattan and billowing smoke at the Pentagon, wreckage on a Pennsylvania field, and deep ache to the soul of our Nation. Nearly 3,000 innocent people lost their lives that morning; still more gave theirs in service during the hours, days, and years that followed. All were loved, and none will be forgotten. On these days of prayer and remembrance, we mourn again the men, women, and children who were taken from us with terrible swiftness, stand with their friends and family, honor the courageous patriots who responded in our country's moment of need, and, with God's grace, rededicate ourselves to a spirit of unity and renewal.

[...]

On September 11, 2001, in our hour of grief, a Nation came together. No matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family. This weekend, as we honor the memory of those we have lost, let us summon that spirit once more. Let us renew our sense of common purpose. And let us reaffirm the bond we share as a people: that out of many, we are one.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 7 through Sunday, September 9, 2012, as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that the people of the United States honor and remember the victims of September 11, 2001, and their loved ones through prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting of memorials, the ringing of bells, evening candlelight remembrance vigils, and other appropriate ceremonies and activities. I invite people around the world to participate in this commemoration.

Both Fox Nation and Fox's self-proclaimed "culture war" correspondent Todd Starnes have pushed this spurious line of attack as well.