The Republican Party delivered a gritty retelling of the 2012 Benghazi terror attacks at their national convention last night – an account of a night of terror and heroism in which Hillary Clinton was cast as the biggest villain. “If Hilary Clinton can’t give us the truth, why should we give her the presidency”.
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“She lied to me and then called me a liar”, Smith said of the former secretary of State and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, with tears in her eyes. Clinton, who at the time was the Secretary of State, has been investigated for her involvement in the security lapse that occurred during the attack.
In the speech, Smith blamed Hillary Clinton for her son’s death.
“My name is Patricia Smith”, she said, wearing a white pant suit and with her hair frosted in brown and blonde streaks.
CLEVELAND, OH – JULY 18: A delegate becomes emotional while listening to the speech of Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith, one of the four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012 terror attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Clinton has defended her response to the incident. “We’ve seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those courageous men”.
Mark Geist and John Tiegen, U.S. Marine Corps veterans who fought in Benghazi, also blasted Clinton and detailed their efforts to survive in wake of the attack. “Since then, I have repeatedly asked Hillary Clinton to explain to me the real reason why my son is dead”. State Department headquarters, right, in D.C., left, and, right, Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the reporters at United Nations headquarters on Tuesday, March 10, 2015.
Geist and Tiegen were depicted in the film “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”, directed by Michael Bay.
The Senate Intelligence Committee found “no evidence of intentional delay or obstruction” of movement by the team from the CIA annex, although some members of the security team expressed frustration that they were unable to respond more quickly.
Missing from the narrative: the fact that the House Benghazi Committee, led by Republicans, couldn’t substantiate the charge.
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I can barely imagine the depths of her grief and caldron of other emotions such a loss stirs in a parent or other loved one, and I was genuinely moved by the pain in her voice as she spoke Monday at the Republican National Convention.
