Bennie’s Little Blunder

When asked for specifics in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash explaining his earlier remarks that much of the opposition to President Obama’s policies was based on the color of his skin, 11-term Mississippi U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson stated, “I’ve seen quite a few State of the Union messages, I’ve never heard a president called a liar in a State of the Union message.” That example was a reference to the infamous “You lie!” outburst by Republican South Carolina U.S. Representative Joe Wilson in 2009. But that didn’t occur at a State of the Union Address. Wilson’s heavily criticized exclamation actually came during a September 2009 Address to a Joint Session of Congress on health care reform.