Fake News: Rep. Jim Jordan Did NOT Say 'Obama And Biden Were Cowering In Fear On Air Force 1' After 9/11 Attacks

Fact Check

  • by: Alan Duke
Fake News: Rep. Jim Jordan Did NOT Say 'Obama And Biden Were Cowering In Fear On Air Force 1' After 9/11 Attacks

Did Republican Congressman Jim Jordan say that Barack Obama and Joe Biden "were cowering in fear" while Donald Trump was "on the ground with first responders searching for survivors and pulling people to safety" after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on America? No, that's not true: It was a quote made up and tweeted by comedy writer Dan Lyons. The "Silicon Valley" writer later acknowledged it was fake, but only after it spread virally on social media and was believed by many.

The fake quote originated in a tweet posted by @realdanlyons on July 30, 2019 (archived here) which read:

"GOP rallies around Trump 9/11 role. "While Obama and Biden were cowering in fear on Air Force 1, Mr. Trump was on the ground with first responders searching for survivors and pulling people to safety," Jim Jordan says. "I remember seeing him on TV, running toward the danger.""

Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:

Dan Lyons on Twitter

"GOP rallies around Trump 9/11 role. "While Obama and Biden were cowering in fear on Air Force 1, Mr. Trump was on the ground with first responders searching for survivors and pulling people to safety," Jim Jordan says. "I remember seeing him on TV, running toward the danger.""

After hours of Twitter going crazy over the quote, Lyons eventually conceded it was fake and he apologized -- sort of -- in another tweet:

Lyons apparently tweeted the fake quote as a joke, playing on a story about a Trump supporter who blamed Obama for the 9/11 attack and Trump's recent statement that he was on the ground after the attack.

Of course, Obama was a state senator in Illinois in 2001 and would not have been aboard Air Force One with Joe Biden.

Another clue about Lyon's motivation for making up the quote and sharing it to his 38-thousand twitter followers may be in this earlier tweet from him:

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  Alan Duke

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke

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