Former White House official on Benghazi: 'Dude, this was like two years ago'

Former White House official on Benghazi: &#039;Dude, this was like two years ago&#039;

last updated 8 January 2015

On the heels of new White House emails on Benghazi being released, former National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor appeared on Fox News' Special Report, and thought it appropriate to address host Baier as... "dude."

As the conservative Free Beacon reports:

Baier pressed Vietor on his role in changing the talking points by adding a line about the administration warning the day before the attacks of "social media reports calling for demonstrations," in order to bolster the false idea that the attack was the spontaneous result of a riot against the video. Vietor affirmed this, but when Baier asked him if he'd changed "attacks" to "demonstrations," he got amnesia. [Free Beacon]

Amnesia would have been preferred. Instead, what Vietor chose to say was this:

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Not to be semantic, but it wasn't quite two years ago. What is more, it's not like this all of a sudden became a big deal, and Vietor suddenly had to jog his memory. Almost from the beginning, there was skepticism surrounding the Benghazi talking points. And, while bureaucrats surely create lots of talking points, this tragedy was hardly routine.

But putting veracity and substance aside, it's easy to see why so many conservatives see Vietor's insouciance as truly insulting. People died here, so a "Dude, where's your consulate" type of attitude is hardly appropriate.

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Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.