There's a lot wrong with Republican thinking about 9/11, but... George W. Bush "united our country"? No, the Democrats united our country. Democrats came together to support America at a time of crisis, rather than engage in partisan obstructionism.
Note what happened during another crisis. In early 2009, our economy was collapsing in the worst economic crash since the Great Depression (and, of course, we were still mired in two wars). A new president was coming into office at this time of potential disaster, taking over from the Republican who had led us into all of these messes.
Did Republicans come together to support America? Did they put aside partisan bickering for the good of the country? On the contrary. Republican leaders met together before Barack Obama had even taken office and agreed to do nothing the new president wanted, no matter what it might be. And they held to that.
Even when the Democrats adopted the Republican health care plan, in an attempt to be bipartisan, every Republican in Congress immediately turned against it - their own plan!
George W. Bush did not unite our country. After 9/11, it was the Democrats who united our country, by putting America above partisanship. Personally, I think they went too far at that, letting Bush get away with far too much. And maybe that was timidity, as well. I don't want to give them too much credit.
Nevertheless, we have a recent example, a clear example, from both the Democrats and the Republicans on how they responded to a crisis threatening America. The Democrats worked to unite us. The Republicans worked to divide us. And they're still doing that.
Anyway, the Nightly Show segment continues here:
I love his point about "hypothetical heroics." Any such claim should be met with complete ridicule. But note his point about blame, too.
You can't blame Barack Obama for Benghazi, where four people died, without blaming George W. Bush for 9/11, where nearly three thousand people died (let alone the Iraq War, where hundreds of thousands of people have died - including 4486 American soldiers).
Republicans want it both ways because it's entirely about politics for them.
PS. Note that Trevor Noah, on the Daily Show, had a segment about this, too:
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