News

These were George Bush's first words after 9/11

These were George Bush's first words after 9/11

George W Bush’s full reaction to the 9/11 attacks has been revealed for the first time and it's almost straight out of an actual Onion article from 2001.

The former president's press secretary Ari Fleischer's notes, which document the moments immediately after the 2001 terrorist attacks, were released on Friday ahead of their 15th anniversary.

Fleischer’s handwritten notes, taken on board the President’s plane, explain that Bush announced they were “going to get the b**s”.

Fleischer said Bush also told his aides:

That's what we're paid for boys. We're going to take care of this, when we find out who did this they are not going to like me as president.

He added:

I can't wait to find out who did it. It's going to take a while and we're not going to have a little slap on the wrist crap.

The strange thing is that Bush’s reaction is oddly similar to a satirical article from The Onion, written just after 9/11.

The headline states that the US had vowed "to defeat whoever it is we’re at war with”.

The article jokingly quotes him as saying:

The United States is preparing to strike, directly and decisively, against you, whoever you are, just as soon as we have a rough idea of your identity and a reasonably decent estimate as to where your base is located.

The Conversation (0)