SPRING, Texas—Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina is fending off allegations that she questions the government’s role in the 9/11 terror attacks, following an interview she gave on a popular nationally-syndicated radio show.
The interview on the Glen Beck radio show Wednesday night spawned controversy when the host asked Medina if she thought the government helped bring down the World Trade towers. In her response, she said “there are some very good arguments and I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence.”
On Thursday, she called Beck’s line of questioning an ambush, and said Muslim terrorists brought down the towers.
“We knew when we got over the target we’d start getting fired at, and that’s what’s happening now,” Medina said. “I said to my team today, we all have a job to do. Stay at your job. The patient will live.”
But the campaign offices of her Republican rivals have already released statements criticizing Medina’s comments.
“I know exactly who was responsible for the September 11th attacks: Al Qaeda terrorists,” U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said
Gov. Rick Perry called Medina’s remarks “an insult to the thousands of Americans who lost loved ones on 9/11.”
Despite the criticism, some political scientists believe the fallout for Medina will be short-lived.
“I don’t think it will hurt her very much,” said 11 News political expert Bob Stein. “Again, we’ll have to wait a few days to see how the story plays out. But from her point of view, it’s getting her more press.”
