Olbermann: 'Morbid proof' Giuliani is exploiting 9/11

Mike Aivaz and Muriel KanePublished: Wednesday September 26, 2007
Keith Olbermann noted on Tuesday's Countdown that if you were to attend a Rudy Giuliani houseparty in Palo Alto, CA this week, "you will get morbid proof that despite his denials, Mr. Giuliani is exploiting the events of September 11, 2001."
The admission fee to the fundraiser is exactly $9.11, and the event is titled "$9.11 for Rudy." The Giuliani campaign has denied knowing about the gimmick but has not denounced it, while Giuliani himself released a two-sentence statement merely calling it "an unfortunate choice."
Newsweek editor Jonathan Alter suggested to Olbermann that the campaign wouldn't have gotten away with something like that in New York or Washington, where people are more sensitive on the subject of 9/11. "You really don't mix events where a lot of people lost their lives with trying to raise money for your campaign," he stated. "It's just really pretty tasteless."
Alter also noted that "this is just the latest in a series of kind of strange episodes in the Giuliani campaign," pointing to Giuliani's apparent stunt of having his wife call on his cellphone while he was speaking before the NRA.
"I think the Onion had it right," Alter concluded. "He's running to be president of 9/11. Nobody who's been a mayor, Keith, has ever gone directly from mayor to president. ... His springboard is this tragic event, this horrible attack on this country, and there's something that's just a little bit tasteless about trying to do that."
The following video is from MSNBC Keith Olbermann's Countdown, broadcast on September 25, 2007.
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