Belafonte At Hillary Appearance: Bush Commits “Acts Of Terror”

At an event attended by Hillary Clinton, Harry Belafonte said that President Bush has begun to "suspend our Constitution" and that doing so is an "act of terror." The pop singer made these comments after giving a speech at a children’s charity dinner. The exchange was reported on the January 13^th edition of Fox and Friends, at 7:08AM EST. Co-hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and E.D. Hill began by discussing Mr. Belafonte’s earlier comments, where he referred to the President as "the greatest terrorist in the world." (Noel Sheppard reported this story for Newsbusters.) Ms. Hill set up the new Belafonte statements by saying, "You know what we did? We sent someone from Fox News Channel to go find out if that’s what he really meant to say." Mr. Belafonte told FNC:

"I think the tyranny of Katrina, I think the tyranny of 30,000 innocent Iraqi citizens killed in a war that’s dishonorable and illegal, for the things that he and many of the people in his cabinet do, I think in many instances is not in the interest of children. I think that what is going on in this country under the laws, under the guise of the laws to protect people from terrorism, for him to begin to suspend our constitution, to violate the rights, the basic freedoms of the people is an act of terror."

Co-host Steve Doocy pointed out that this event, for the Children’s Defense Fund, was attended by Hillary Clinton. He added:

"She was the keynote speaker. She arrived at the festivity mid-meal. And Mr. Belafonte would speak later. She apparently kept at least a 15 foot distance from him at all times. So she would never appear in a photograph snapped where it looks as if she was embracing him."

Now, there was no coverage of this Belafonte/Clinton event on Today, Good Morning America or the Early Show. Imagine if, say, Pat Robertson had made such comments at a Bush event. Wonder what would have happened then?

A partial transcript follows:

Fox and Friends

1/13/06

7:08EST

ED Hill

Brian Kilmeade

Steve Doocy

Hill: "You know what we did? We sent someone from Fox News Channel to go find out if that’s what he really meant to say."

Doocy: "And we asked him, do you really think President Bush is the biggest dictator in the world? Here is Mr. Belafonte’s answer."

Harry Belafonte: "I think the tyranny of Katrina, I think the tyranny of 30,000 innocent Iraqi citizens killed in a war that’s dishonorable and illegal, for the things that he and many of the people in his cabinet do, I think in many instances is not in the interest of children. I think that what is going on in this country under the laws, under the guise of the laws to protect people from terrorism, for him to begin to suspend our constitution, to violate the rights, the basic freedoms of the people is an act of terror."

Steve Doocy: "So there he is, once again reaffirming that he thinks that President Bush is the biggest terrorist in the world. Now, those comments were made as Harry Belafonte made a joint appearance yesterday with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Here’s the very delicate balancing act. She wants to be President, okay?" There she is being introduced.

Hill: "She was at the Children’s Defense Fund."

Doocy: "She was the keynote speaker. She arrived at the festivity mid-meal. And Mr. Belafonte would speak later. She apparently kept at least a 15 foot distance from him at all times. So she would never appear in a photograph snapped where it looks as if she was embracing him."