MSNBC contributor Joy Reid, after saying former President George W. Bush disappeared the first couple of weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, tweeted Tuesday night she "meant days, not weeks" and sarcastically thanked Mediaite's Noah Rothman for "sending all the racist right wingers my way" with his story on the comments.
While discussing President Obama's response to the Boston Marathon bombings on MSNBC's "Now with Alex Wagner," Reid went off on a tangent involving Bush and New York City's then-mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"Having, sort of, one person communicating with you is very important," Reid said. "We learned after 9/11 that when George W. Bush didn’t do it, Rudy Giuliani stepped in. The whole country was waiting for him to come on the television for those first couple of weeks because you didn’t see the president. President Obama has definitely learned the lesson that you do have to speak early, speak often, speak confidently."
After Rothman reported her remarks, Reid took to Twitter to clarify.
.@noahcrothman I meant days, not weeks re Bush-9/11, but thanks for sending all the racist right wingers my way! mediaite.com/tv/msnbcs-joy-…
— Joy Reid (@TheReidReport) April 16, 2013
Bush spoke from the Oval Office the night of the Sept. 11 attacks, and he gave his famous bullhorn speech from atop Ground Zero rubble in New York City Sept. 14.