RNC bans CBC from midterm convention over memo saying 9/11 wasn't 'terror attack'

The Republican National Committee is holding a midterm convention next week in September, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is not invited. The RNC sent a letter to the Canadian state-funded news network denying their press credentials for the two-day Dallas event.

At issue for the RNC was a recent leaked memo sent out by CBC Senior Director of Journalistic Standards and Public Trust saying that the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States should not be referred to as a "terrorist attack." In a memo sent to CBC staff from Basem Boshra, reporters were told, "Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks" unless they were attributing the comment to another person.

This means reporters and editors were not to take as fact that the attacks were terrorism. "The hijackings led to passenger jet crashes in Washington, DC, Pennsylvania and Manhattan. The World Trade Center (WTC in second reference) was destroyed. (The September 11 Digital Archive is an excellent resource for details about the attacks. It was created by several U.S. universities, historical societies and foundations," Boshra told staff. Warren Kinsella revealed the memo in the Toronto Sun.

The backlash was so severe that Boshra had to reverse course and wrote a post on the editor's blog, saying "After reviewing our current language guidance, we have decided to adjust it to clarify that direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism." He said in the post that the memo "has caused significant concern, anger and hurt for many people who believe CBC News seeks to minimize or obscure the horror of that day and who was behind it" and that this was "the last thing we want to do."

That was not enough for the RNC, which had sent a letter to the CBC revoking the press credentials ahead of the turnabout. Apparently, the RNC believes the recent adage "when someone," in this case the CBC, "tells you who they are, believe them." They revoked the CBC's press credentials. CBC head of public affairs Chuck Thompson told the National Post in an email, "It is a disappointing development; we hope it will be reconsidered." The RNC did not respond to a request for comment.

The RNC said that allowing the CBC to attend would be an "insult" to the over 3,000 victims of the terror attacks carried out by America-hating Islamists at the direction of Osama bin Laden on September 11, 2001. Four passenger planes were hijacked. Two of them were flown into the World Trade Centers in New York City. Another into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the fourth was diverted by brave passengers and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania before it could reach its final destination, believed to be the White House.

There have been ongoing trade spats between Canada and the United States, with each nation leveling tariffs and trade restrictions against the other though they are each other's largest trading partner. President Trump has said that Canada gives the US a raw deal, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has taken offense at Trump's threats and trade changes, as did Justin Trudeau before him.

For Shawn McCarthy, former president of World Press Freedom Canada, the press credential revocation is a "hostile" act by Trump against media. "It's in keeping with the Trump administration's efforts to control the press. They have a horrible record when it comes to press freedoms," he said.

The National Post worries that "the White House and Republican Party may try to exert further control on foreign Canadian journalists reporting in the United States," noting that the allowable time a journalist visa to the US will be in effect is now 240 days, down from five years.